A Rose By Any Other Name
by Crazy Care Bear
Summary: On the Dukes: A girl comes to Hazzard, and Luke starts falling for her. But between family and jobs, things get complicated, especially when JD Hogg will do anything to keep the two apart once he finds out. Will Luke be able keep the girl of his dreams?
1. What's in a Name?

**A/N:** Disclaimer, "The Dukes of Hazzard" is owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. This is just my story line. Hope you all enjoy._

* * *

It was the first warm breeze of the season; a sign of change, not that anyone in Hazzard would realize how much change. No, instead to the folks of Hazzard the warm breeze meant the first night out on the town of the season, and that meant business for the Boar's Nest. And that's where you can find the Duke boys for sure._

Bo Duke was on the prowl, looking for a couple girls for him and his cousin Luke. Luke had faith in his cousin to find a couple of lookers that they could court for the night. Luke also knew though, that if Bo could only find one, well then Luke would have to enjoy the night talking it up with the guys. Luke was fine with this, looking around the crowd he saw his cousin talking to a girl, only one. Bo was blocking his view of her, but her looks did not really matter to him, Bo was setting to move in.

Luke stood up to stretch his legs and to go over to visit his friend Cooter, when Bo stopped him. Bo was grinning like an idiot, and gave a meaningful wink to his cousin. "Hey, cus', do you mind if I take the car for a little ride?"

"No, go for it," Luke assured his cousin, and started digging into his pockets for the keys.

"Oh, but incase you get lonely, there's a pretty little blonde over there who's looking for some company," Bo told him with a grin. Luke smiled back; apparently the girl had a friend.

Bo started to move towards the door, revealing the girl he had been chatting up. Her eyes met Luke's, and without thinking they both took a step towards each other. Luke, just half smiled at this woman, and took her appearance in. His age, so mid to late twenties, with dark chestnut brown hair, that shone even in the poor lightening of the Boar's Nest. Brown eyes, with specs of different colors in them, that he could not distinguish this far away from her. Her lips this irresistible pink, that formed into a warm, seductive smile.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Hi," she replied.

Bo stood uneasily to the side, and then cleared his throat a little. "You want to get going?"

The girl looked back at Bo, shocked, almost like she had forgotten who he was. "I'm sorry," she started, "but I think I changed my mind. But, I'm sure my friend would love a good old fashion country drive."

Bo glanced over at the blonde; she was pretty enough, but definitely not as pretty as this one, and Bo did not like to get second best to anyone, especially his cousin. Speaking of his cousin, Luke had not taken his eyes off her. Sighing, Bo muttered, "Yeah, sounds fun."

He started walking away, but then turned around and said with a mischievous grin, "Hey cuz, why don't you show the lady what world class dancing skills you have?"

Then he walked away, laughing, eyes set on the blonde, keys in hand.

"Dancing skills, huh?"

"Oh Lord, what did he just get me into?" Luke muttered to himself. "You want to dance?"

"Thought you'd never ask," she replied, and took his hand, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor.

He pulled her body close to him, and started swaying with the music, although not always in time with the music. She leaned into him, and tried to hide her smile. He looked down at her, and noticed her eyes had green and gold flicks in them standing against the brown. "So, where you from?"

"Atlanta," she answered. "Are you from Hazzard?"

He nodded. "What brings you here then?"

"I'm traveling across the state with me friend," she explained. "Hazzard happened to be in our path."

"That must be nice," he commented, a little bitterly. "Having the money to do that, and not worry about it."

She laughed curtly. "Yeah, sure, I'm just rolling in the dough. No, I'm only surviving by running some errands for people across the state, that's sort of what prompted the road trip."

At that point Luke spun her, and pulled her close again. "So when do you have to leave?"

She looked up at his eyes, her breath taken away for the gorgeous blue color. "I guess I don't have to leave right away. I think it will all depend on when I run out of jobs to do."

"Do you know where you are gonna stay?" he asked, as a faster song came on and he stumbled trying to keep up with the tempo.

"Haven't really given much thought to it," she answered with a shake of her head.

"Well, if you need it, you are more then welcome to stay with me."

She laughed softly, and then replied lightly, "I bet I am, you little charmer. You're sly, you know that?"

"I didn't mean any disrespect," he told her sincerely, but smiling at the same time, "I just know that prices in Hazzard can be a little steep."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. I'm resourceful, but it is nice to know I have some place to fall back on."

"Glad to be of service."

They did not talk for a little while, just kept dancing till she finally commented, "You know, for some world class dancing skills, I'm not that impressed."

Luke let out a chuckle. "I know, I've been told a chicken with its head cut off has a better sense of rhythm then I do."

She looked him square in the eye, smiled and told him dryly, "Now that would be an impressive chicken. Do you want to sit down and have a drink?"

"Yes," he replied quickly, and rushed over to the table. She held his hand, laughing to herself.

Sitting down, he looked across the table and just smiled at her. She smiled back, leaned in and asked, "So what's it gonna be to drink, beer or moonshine?"

He gawped at her stunned. "You know about moonshine? You seem more like a fine wine person to me."

"What? You think just because I now live in Atlanta I can't know a thing or two about country ways? I've got family all over this state in towns just like Hazzard," she informed him.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't get my mind around the idea of you taking back moonshine," he responded, shaking his head at the thought.

"I almost hear a challenge in that, but I don't want to embarrass you, so I'm not gonna take the bait and drink you under the table," she stated firmly but joking.

"That's good, because I've got military training so I'm pretty sure I'd be the one to drink you under the table," he warned.

"Military training, huh? Oh is that what you guys did over in Vietnam, just invade a country and drink its liquor?" she questioned, seemingly jokingly, but with just a slight undertone of defiance.

Luke did not respond to her, he just sat stunned and silence. When most people heard he was form military they went great lengths to tell him how proud they were of him and his service, or how the military did a great job in Vietnam, and how he did the right thing by serving. No one bothered to ask his opinion of his time spent over seas, and no one dared to basically call it pointless.

"So, are you saying the military shouldn't have gone over there?" he asked, his tone suddenly serious.

She knew she might have gone too far, pushed the wrong button, but to her that was how she was. She cut to the chase and did not sugar coat it. "No, it was the same mess as when we left, except more people were angry or dead. Don't get me wrong though, I think it's admirable that you went over there for your country. I support the military, you guys are a brave bunch and we need more people who are so willing to defend our country. But that wasn't our country, our way of life was not threatened, it was all political hysteria that escalated way too far. I think the military is a courageous bunch, but probably not the most free thinking bunch."

She waited, waited for him to get mad, to start yelling, defend his choice and call her ignorant. She waited for him to walk away.

"It wasn't our fight."

She blinked a couple times and gaped at him. "What?"

He smiled and leaned in. "Most people around here think I fully heartedly supported the war because I'm an ex-marine. They never stop to think I was only over there because that's what the government told. We shouldn't have been over there, but we were so we tried to do more good then damage. I like to remember the times I helped when I have to think about it."

She smiled warmly at him. "You know, I honestly thought you were going to get offended, and walk away."

He shook his head. "There's something different about you, something that tells me I shouldn't turn my back to you."

She smiled, and chuckled to herself like he said something to remind her of a private joke. "I don't think you know how right you are," she told him, with a knowing grin.

"Would you like that drink now? You have your choice between water, water downed beer or water downed moonshine," he asked.

"Watery beer is fine," she declared.

_Luke got the drinks, and the two of them kept talking, and kept dancing, slow songs since that seemed to be what Luke was best at. They talked till the Boar's Nest had to close for the night, and then walked out to the parking lot, still talking._

"I take it you don't have a ride back to your home yet, do you?" she asked, notice the only two cars left in the parking lot was hers and the waitress's.

Luke glanced over at his cousin Daisy, who just so happened to be the waitress. He could have easily gotten a ride back to his farm with her, but she was not the female company he wanted.

"No, guess not."

"I take it our friends must have really hit it off," she commented and then walked towards her car. She tilted her head in that direction, and said, "Come on, I'll give you a lift."

"Much obliged, but you know, it might just be better if I drive, I know my way around," Luke suggested, walking towards the car. He was a car man, born and raised, so he automatically scoped out her ride. It looked like a late sixties Dodge Coronet, but he could not make out whether it was blue or black in the poor lighting.

"You know it probably would be better, but I don't know you well enough to drive my baby," she clarified. "No one drives Davis unless I trust them. You're a racer, you should understand."

"I do, I just don't want you getting lost," he explained.

"Then you better be good with directions, now come on." Luke smiled and got in.

They talked on the ride back, mostly about cars. She was not any expert on the subject, but she did her best to keep up. When they were finally to the Duke's farm, she got out with Luke and walked him to his front door.

Luke stopped by the porch steps, turned to her and said, "This is all wrong, I should be the one waking you home."

"Well, sorry, I'm new at this," she confined in him. "I didn't read the rule book."

Luke smiled at her, not wanting the night to end. To keep the night alive, he asked the question that has been tugging at the back of his brain all night. "Why did you stay at the Boar's Nest with me? Why didn't you go off-"

"Off with Blondie?" she finished for him. He nodded, and she sighed. "Your eyes. Well, your eyes and that feeling, that feeling you get when you know it's just right. And I didn't get that with him, but as soon as I saw your eyes, I felt it."

He took a step towards her, placed a hand gently on her hip. Her eyes fluttered down and then back to his, her lips now smiling. "When's the next time you're gonna be in town?" he whispered.

Her eyes glanced up at the lightening sky. "It's almost dawn," she answered. "I have a couple errands to run, but if I can I'll try to make it back to the Boar's Nest by tonight, late tonight. If not then, then definitely tomorrow night."

"I'll be there, both nights," he ensured.

They locked eyes, and as Luke started to lean in to give her a goodnight kiss, the sound of a roaring engine disturbed the peace. In his head, Luke cussed out his cousin. Out loud he mumbled, "He's got great timing."

She just smiled up at him and started backing up towards her car. "I'll see you tonight, hopefully."

With that she started walking towards her car. Luke just watched, and it was not till she was in the car he realized an important fact.

"Wait," he called out, and raced after her.

She had just turned on the engine and almost did not hear him. He came around to the driver's side, where she was staring and smiling politely at him. He crouched down to look her straight in the eye and said, "I don't even know your name."

Her grin widened. "What's in a name?" she questioned. "Besides, isn't it more fun this way?"

With that lingering question, she drove off, leaving Luke confused, but feeling good.

_That folks, is strange behavior, even for Hazzard County._

Luke continued to grin after the car drove away and was replaced by the familiar orange car. Bo popped his head out the window, also grinning like an idiot. "Hey cus', were you waiting up for me? I'm sorry, me and Madeline lost track of time. She sure is something; I guess I owe you thanks for taking her friend from me. How'd that go?"

Luke smiled at his cousin, and told him, "Great."

"So how many times did you step on her feet cousin?" Bo teased.

"You know, we didn't really dance that much," Luke confessed. "Spent the whole night talking."

"Just talking?" Bo asked, eyebrows raised in surprised. Luke nodded and Bo shook his head. "Oh I'm sorry, I thought for sure she wouldn't have minded dancing the horizontal mumbo with you."

"You know, I didn't really mind, there was just something about her," Luke explained as the walked towards the house.

"Well, if you really did spend the whole night talking, then that's probably the most you've talked to anyone in a while," Bo said, now whispering as the two crept their way towards their room.

Luke kept silent, thinking about it. His cousin was right, he was a man who kept to himself, so it must have been a sight to see the introverted Duke spending the whole night talking to a complete stranger.

"See, you used up all your words on her and don't have none for your cousin," Bo pointed out, jokingly as he crawled into bed.

Luke rolled his eyes and whispered, "Goodnight Bo."

"Goodnight Luke," Bo replied, with a yawn and was asleep within the minute.

Luke tried to shut his eyes, but they wanted to remain open. Glancing at the clock he figured all he would get was a couple hours of sleep before he had to be up anyways, so instead he chose to get up and get an early start. As quietly as he could, he got dressed and headed out to the barn.

_Luke was more worked up then a cat in a church infested with mice. He didn't get any sleep that day, running on adrenaline, but true to his word Luke was at the Boar's Nest that night, just maybe not conscious._

Luke was slumped over in a booth, resting his head on the wall, fast asleep. The day had finally caught up with him, and after waiting a couple hours his eyes shut for the night. Bo, sitting at the bar, had laughed when he first realized his older cousin was asleep, and was going to wake him up and bring him home, but Daisy had stopped him. She knew Luke would refuse it, and she wanted to see if the girl would show. Sure, that meant making sure none of the hometown boys of Hazzard messed with the slumbering Duke, but it would be worth it if she showed.

It was getting late, the crowd was thinning out, and Bo was getting ready to leave, when a character rushed into the bar. Her dark brown hair whipped across as she scanned the room. Daisy smiled at her and pointed towards the resting man. The newcomer grinned, and her eyes light up when she saw the dark haired man. Smiling her thanks at the waitress, she made her way over, smoothing out her air and trying to fix her appearance.

Her smiled faded when she saw he was asleep, but then it came back realizing he came here for her. She sat down, and resisted the urge to snuggle up to him and fall asleep too. After a couple of minutes of sitting there, she wondered what to do. Wake him, or leave him a note or just leave? But she could not leave without letting him know she had made it back. It felt strange, worrying so much about how a stranger perceived her, modifying her life to fit with his. Strange in a good way though.

Right as she was considering leaving a note for him, he groaned, and shifted in his seat, still asleep. His new position left him more open, more suitable for her to curl up to. And she had a long day too; all she wanted to do was sleep. Finally giving in to temptation she rested her head on his body and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she smiled. He had the aroma of a campfire.

Luke stirred as he felt the presence of someone on him. He was half awake, though he could not open his eyes to check to see whose body was pressed against his. Instead he whispered hoarsely, "Is that you?"

"Yep," she replied, and he knew it was she.

"I didn't think you were coming."

"My business ran long, but you didn't have to stay up, I was gonna be back here tomorrow night," she explained.

"I told you I'd be here, so I'm here," he told her firmly.

"Thank you," she whispered, and slung her arm across his chest.

His arm wrapped around her body, and there were no more words. Soon their breaths matched and both were fast asleep.

The next thing he knew, he was being shaken by Daisy, warning, "Come on sugar, the Boar's Nest is closing. Boss Hogg is gonna be mad if he finds I let you stay here without ordering drinks."

"What's going on?" Luke asked, disoriented.

"It's time for you to get, come on now," Daisy answered.

"Alright, alright," he muttered and gently shook the girl sleeping on him. "Hey you, we need to leave."

Her eyes flickered open and glanced up to his. God, he had forgotten how wonderful those eyes were. "Hhmm?"

"Come on, it's closing time," he told her.

She nodded and staggered her way up. Luke followed, and as they started walking towards the door, he put his arm around her shoulder, embracing her. Daisy smiled as she watched the two, secretly hoping that those two would find a way to work out. She could not remember the last time she saw her cousin this interested in a woman.

Out in the parking lot, the girl turned to Luke and asked, "You need a ride home?"

He wanted to say yes, anything to have more time with her, but her eyes were drooping and he was not sure how much longer she could stay standing. "No, it's alright, go get some sleep," he told her, and the nodded towards Daisy. "I can get a ride home with her."

Her eyes looked over at Daisy and then back to him. "The waitress knows where you live?" she asked, trying to mask her concern.

"Yeah, we live together," he told her, forgetting she did not know their relation.

Her eyes went wide in shock, and Luke quickly figured out the reason. With a laugh he reassured her, "No, no, we're cousins."

She sighed in relief, and gave him a playful tap. "You could have started with that."

"Well how about tomorrow you meet me back here, around one, and we'll go for a picnic and I'll tell you all about my family if you want," he suggested.

Her eyes lit up at the chance for more time with him. "Sure, I'll bring some sandwiches, and what ever else I can find. Maybe I can even scrounge up some moonshine and we can see who can out drink whom."

He smiled, and nodded. "Alright, we'll meet back here at one, I'll bring the blanket, you bring the sandwiches."

As they both started to lean in to give each other a proper goodnight, she yawned, which set him off yawning. Smiling at her, Luke stated, "Go get some rest."

She nodded, her eyes half shut, and walked over to her car. After Luke watched her drive off, he got into Daisy's jeep and shut his eyes for the night.

Morning came, and not everyone woke up with it. Boss J.D. Hogg was fast asleep, well into the morning, until a noise from downstairs disturbed him. Worried about his money, he quickly scrambled out of bed, grabbed a baseball bat, and crept down the stairs, ready to attack.

The noise was coming from the kitchen, so slowly he moved towards there, and raised the bat. Taking a deep breath, he charged in, screaming.

His intruder stood up from searching the refrigerator, and glanced at him, bewildered. Her brown eyes lit up in confusion, and her pink lips curled into an amused smile. The same smile she had given a sleeping Luke the night before.

"But the bat down before you hurt yourself," she ordered him, pulling out some bread and some sort of lunchmeat.

"Wh- what? What are you doing here?" Boss Hogg stuttered.

"Making some sandwiches," she answered him innocently.

"How did you get into my house?" he questioned, eyes narrowing.

"Back porch window." His eyes went wide and she laughed. "Your wife let me in, relax. I'm almost done, I just need to finish making the potato salad."

"What are you doing going through my food?" he asked.

"Well there's no food at where you set me up, and what's a picnic without sandwiches?"

His eyes flashed suspiciously and narrowed at her. "And who are you going on a picnic with?"

Her head bent down, focusing on the potato salad. "With my friend, isn't the whole point of me traveling with her to throw off suspicions?"

"Alright… how did the job go?" he asked, his pudgy fingers reaching for a sandwich.

She pushed his greedy fingers away. "It went off without a hitch, but what else would you expect from me?"

"That's my girl," he complimented her proudly. Then his eyes narrowed again. "Did you use up the rest of my potatoes?"

She rolled her eyes, and finished wrapping up the sandwiches. "Fine, add them to my bill, but I've got to go now."

She shoved a spoonful of potato salad in his mouth, and left with just a flick of the wrist as a goodbye.

_I don't like it folks. Anyone who's that friendly with Boss Hogg can't be up to no good. And to think, Luke's taken by her._


	2. A Pinic

**A/N:** so I've decided to try and update on Mondays and Fridays for the readers. Hope you all enjoy.  


* * *

Luke scowled as he stared at the passing country scenery in Daisy's Jeep. Sighing, he muttered, "I can't believe Bo just took the General, for some trip to Savannah without telling me. I had plans today."

"Luke, Bo was trying to tell you all yesterday," Daisy corrected him, "but you were too busy day dreaming about this girl to pay any of us attention. I swear Luke, it's like you're a starving goat who just saw a haystack, completely absorbed."

Luke laughed. "Well you've seen her Daisy, if you was a man wouldn't you be?"

"Oh sure sugar, but we're not talking about me, we're talking about you, and her. Does this girl have a name?"

"Of course she's got a name, everyone does," he answered her with a smile.

"Well, what is it?"

"Don't rightly know," he replied truthfully.

"Luke Duke, you've been seeing this woman and you don't even know her name?!" Daisy cried, astonished.

"I've been working on it," he replied, failing to hide an amused smile. "'Sides, I know a lot about her, even if I don't know her name."

"I bet you do," Daisy said with a laugh. Luke didn't have the heart to tell his cousin that it was not the way she thought.

Daisy pulled into the parking lot of the Boars Nest, to see the girl they were discussing leaning against her dark blue Dodge Coronet. Her deep brown eyes lit up, as she saw Luke barely wait for the Jeep to come to a full stop as he leaped out to greet her.

"Hey stranger," she grinned, his female cousin already forgotten.

"Hi you," he replied.

"Got everything you need?" she asked.

"Everything except my car," he told her. "My cousin went on a trip to Savannah and took the General with him."

"Don't worry, I think Davis can handle driving around these back country roads," she assured him. Smiling mischievously, she tossed him the keys, suggesting, "But you better drive since you know your way around."

Luke snatched the keys out of the air, asking, "Really? You want me to drive your car?"

"Well, we already slept together, I might as well start trusting you," she answered jokingly, gliding into the passenger side.

Luke grinned, and got into the Dodge Coronet. He adjusted his body in the black leather seats, and gripped the steering wheel. His hands ran over the worn leather covering the metal circle, gripping it tighter and then releasing again. His fingers traced the dashboard down to the sifter. He pretended to shift a few times, while taking in the rest of the car, all to the amusement of brown eyes.

"You gonna court it or drive it?" she asked, smiling softly at him.

"I'm just getting the feel for it," he explained, but turned on the car quickly. As he began driving, he could not help but keep grinning. The car ran smooth and almost sounded eager to be driven by the experienced driver.

"So where are we going?" she asked, her eyes still watching him as he drove.

"This great little spot up on Harris' Cliff," he told her, his smile widening as her engine roared. "This car runs great, what year is it? '70?"

"'68," she told him. "I got her back in '72 though, and most of her engine is still original."

"Her? I thought you said the car's name was Davis," Luke remembered.

"It is, Davis after Bette Davis," she explained. "I just love her, and those old movies. But if anyone asks, it's named after Jefferson Davis."

"You're secret is safe with me," he assured her. "I don't see why it needs to be a big secret though, Bette Davis is a perfectly acceptable name for a car."

"Well, it's more for my reputation, having my car named after Jefferson Davis is better to gain respect then Bette Davis. And plus, after I got Davis by using a con, so Jefferson just-"

"Hold on, you got this car using a con?" Luke questioned, his smile quickly becoming a frown.

"Oh that," she said simply, also frowning. "See, I don't come for the most… ethical family. My daddy's serving time for larceny and my brother, well he's just unscrupulous. And when I was about fourteen, we got into a fight, something stupid, that set me off to prove to him I was better at conning then he was."

She paused at this point in her tale to steal a glance at the man driving her car. His deep blue eyes were almost buried by his eyebrows squinted in thought. Her instinct was to start lying, to try and gain his pity, and she normally never went against her instinct. Why would she? Her instinct was never wrong. She could read people, know exactly what to say to make them do things for her. Know how to get out of a situation, which people to trust and which people to set up. This edge helped her get where she was, surviving by living con to con. She always listened to her instinct before, and with this boy her instinct told her to say anything to keep him around.

Taking a deep breath she continued. "So I found a sucker, a man trying to sell his prized possession, this Dodge Coronet, to make some cash. I was only fourteen, but my uncle taught me the basics of driving already, so I did my best to pretend to be older and started talking to him about buying the car. I was laying some sweet sad story about how I needed a car to drive across country to escape my drunken abusive dad, but didn't have much money or know much about cars. He knocked down the price by a couple thousands right then. And I asked to see the engine, asked him where the dipstick was, where the coolant went, things I would need to know if I was gonna own the car."

"So you sweet talked your way into a lower price? Doesn't sound much like a con, more like a swindle," Luke commented thoughtfully.

"No, but messing with the engine when his back was turned so it barely started is," she replied, looking down at the floor. "It looked like it broke his heart to hear his car barely turn over. He told me he swore his car was better condition than this, and he didn't know what happened, but since he needed the money he would knock the price down some more. I let him to believe I needed the car just as bad as he needed the money, so we came to an agreement, four hundred and fifty two dollars, since that was all I had on me, and he would sign it over to me that day. Once he signed the deed, and it was in my hand, I opened up the hood, fixed what I had done and drove off in a car worth at least seven thousand dollars."

Recalling when she told her brother this story she had added, "And never looked back," but she did not want to lie to Luke. The truth is she looked back the whole first week of owning that car.

Luke kept silent for a while, thinking over what he just heard. There was no doubt in his mind she was telling the truth, not censoring anything to make herself look better. Completely brutal honesty, now that was something Luke could admire.

He parked the car, and turned to her smiling slightly. "What's done is done, and we've all done stuff we can't take back. Now come on, let's go set up while we still have some sun."

She sat dumbfounded as he got out of the car. She was expecting a lashing, or being called scum, not simple acceptance of she did something wrong in her past. As he opened the door for her, she gazed up at him and couldn't help but smile. "You're something else, you know that stranger?"

He smiled at the little pet name she seemed to have adopted for him, and helped her out of the car. "Only to you."

She rolled her eyes at the cheesy banter, and as she stood she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it for a second, and then released, being washed over with relief. Big deep dark secret number one was out in the open, and if things had changed he did not show it. She opened her eyes and looked at where he had taken her.

It was beautiful; where they stood they could almost see all of Hazzard. The colors blended flawlessly together, greens and browns became two of the most serene colors she had ever seen. If a person squinted they could make out Hazzard Square, and directly blew them there were farms where horse and goats were seen mulling about.

She leaned back against the hood of her car, and let out a small, "Wow."

"You like it huh?" he asked, coming up besides her.

"This is amazing," she stated, smiling at him. Their eyes connected and she moved in closer. He mirrored the move, and they were only a few inches apart. Slowly she whispered, "Want to know another secret?"

"I don't know if I can handle any more secrets."

"It's a good one, I promise. I had planned on taking it to my grave."

He could not resist. "Alright, what's your secret?"

"About two years after I con the car off the old man, I went back to him and told him what I did. Then I gave him three thousand dollars and the choice between taking the car back that day or letting me pay him what the car was really worth. I ended up paying him another five thousand dollars over the next few years. And thank God, because I don't know what I would have done if he had taken Davis away from me."

Luke closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "So you actually paid the man what the car was worth? And here I was thinking you were some kind of big con artist."

She leaned away, slightly offended by his dismissal. "I could be some kind of big con artist if I wanted to, I just don't wanna."

He chuckled softly to himself as he grabbed the picnic basket and brought it to the already laid out blanket. Then he teased, "Sure, you could be the biggest con artist this said of the Mississippi if you wanted to."

She dropped down on the blanket, and pouted, "I could be." Next she looked up at him and smiled, letting him know she was being a good sport and joked, "Well, that's the last time I confide a secret in you. I want to know something about you now."

He plopped down next to her and grinned. "Alright you, want to know about my probation?"

Her eyes lit up with surprise, and the gold in them seem to twinkle. She grinned excitedly and nodded, as she handed him a sandwich. Grinning back at her he took a bite and then began, "Well, it all started one day when my cousin Bo and I were running shine…"

_The two of them sat on top of that hilltops for hours talking about their past, answering each other's questions, getting just about as comfortable as a mouse in church. I think we can all tell where they were planning on having the night end up, but don't you forget, in Hazzard, things never go as planned._

They were leaning in, both with stupid grins on their faces when the CB in Davis crackled and voice interrupted the moment. "Piglet, come in Piglet, you there?"

She groaned, and muttered, "Just ignore that."

"Can do," Luke replied, and leaned in again, but got disturbed again.

"Piglet, Piglet, Piglet," the CB called. "Hey Sow! We got a job to do."

The girl groaned and muttered, "I've got to take this." She strode over to the car and picked up the receiver before the man calling could say anything else. In a hush voice she questioned, "What do you mean we have a job? Tonight was supposed to be a cold night."

"I just got the orders, so hurry up, we need to be out of Hazzard in thirty," the voice told her.

"That might be a problem, can this get delayed any longer?"

"No, big man gave the orders it had to be out now. Get moving."

She let out an aggravated sigh, and threw the CB down. She glanced back at the man waiting for her, and her eyes darkened with anger. "Damn it," she muttered, and walked back to the blanket.

She started to pack everything back up, with curious looks from Luke. He wanted to know what was going on, but she was avoiding his gaze. She kept moving around, packing up the car. Luke frowned, got up and followed her around till he had the chance to grab her arm and force her to look at him. "Hey you, what's going on?"

She glanced down, but he pushed her chin up and smiled. "Come on, you can tell me."

"I've… I've got an errand to run," she told him.

He gazed over to the horizon, the sun was almost fully gone, by the time she got wherever she was going it was bound to be dark. "What kind of errand?"

She shifted uncomfortably, but answered truthfully, "The kind I can't talk about unless you're part of the errand too."

Luke bent down and picked up the blanket. "Well, you can tell me as much as you can on the ride back then."

She looked at him, unsure what to say as he handed her a folded up blanket. Shaking her head she muttered, "Fine, but it doesn't leave the car."

She threw the blanket in the back seat, and hopped into the driver's seat. He got in after her, and she picked up the CB. "Tanker, Tanker, come in."

"What up?" a voice replied.

"Is it box, talk or lock?" she asked, starting the car.

"Box."

"Where?"

"Turnapeak."

"Fine, over and out," she stated and hung up.

Luke glanced at her, and started, "So…"

"So, remember when I said I was running some errands?" He nodded. "Well, that's because I owe a lot of money, and I don't have a nine to five job, and taking certain jobs is the only way I've got of making money and paying back the debt."

"How much money?" It was a standard question, one that was perfectly acceptable, but one she did not have the heart to answer.

"Enough that I lost my free will," she muttered to herself. She turned to him and shook her head. "I don't know off the top of my head, but believe me when I say a lot."

He was silent, as she began to drive, maybe a little too fast. She turned a corner, and her car whipped around to follow her lead. He glanced at her, unnerved. "Maybe you should slow down a little on the curves. They can be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

"I've been driving since I was thirteen, in backwoods country roads like this one. Part of my job is to drive," she told him.

He looked uncertain, especially as another curve came up. She grinned and gunned for it. The car roared as it accelerated, and the curve got closer, the car suddenly lurched as she hit the brakes and the car spun perfectly with turn. Luke looked around, eyes wide with shock they were not over the edge and then smiled. "Alright, so you know what you're doing."

"Just maybe not where I'm going," she confessed. She glanced at him hopefully and asked, "If I drop you off at the Boar's Nest, what's the fast way to Turnapeak? It's through Chickasaw, right?"

"Now hold on, if you're doing what I think you are, you best stay out of Chickasaw," he warned. "They've got a sheriff there with a very jumpy trigger finger. He won't think twice about shooting."

"Thanks, but I'm only gonna cut through to Turnapeak, no actually business is happening there." She smiled at him, even though she knew the idea of him was bad. "I'm gonna drop you off, get this job over with and then come back and explain this to you. It won't be till tomorrow, but I promise to explain."

"I guess if that's all I get, then I have to take it," he told her, as she pulled into the Boar's Nest. He got out, and she drove off after barely waving goodbye.

_Folks, this girl is just a whirlwind of secrets that's got a Duke boy carried away with her._

Luke had spent the night tossing and turning, his brain just turning over everything that happened with the mystery girl. It was the morning, and Luke as already up doing chores before any of his other cousins were up. He was taking out his frustration on a barrel of hay, when he heard a car pull up to the house. Walking around to the front of the house Luke smiled as he saw the girl of his turbulent thoughts.

She got out of the deep blue car, and glanced around. It was nerve racking to be here, about to explain another secret to this man she meet only a few days ago. She needed to end it, now, before anything else slipped out. Then she saw him, his blue eyes piercing her, and words began to spill out.

"I'm sorry about this. It was stupid of me to get involved or lead you on. I can't do this, even though I really like you, my life isn't gonna allow it. I run shine, steal cars, and do cons, all depending on what the boss tells me to do. I travel around; I don't stay in one place too often. I still owe over eight thousand dollars, and I don't see me paying that off any time soon. And I was told to keep a low profile, which I thought I was doing so, but I guess I didn't do that good of a job. And I-"

Luke just grinned, as he watched her confess secrets, with no filter. She was starting to look crazy, her hands waving about, and words just blurting out. Even though he was enjoying seeing her like this, he had to stop her and ask a question. Placing a hand over her mouth, he asked, "You like me?"

She blushed, and her scarlet face just made Luke's grin go wider. "Well, I like you too. But I just got one question, why do you owe so much money?"

"I got arrested for grand theft auto, and my uncle got the money for bail and lawyer. I'm trying to pay back the debt that he got because he saved me, but this is the only way I can get the money back. And I don't know how much longer I'm going to have to do these kinds of jobs. And with these jobs, I'm traveling all over; there will be times when I won't be able to come back to Hazzard for weeks. And I don't think I should have let my emotions get in the way, and starting something was a bad idea on my part."

Luke stared at her, bewildered. She stopped making sense a while ago. He cupped her face, to make her stop talking and force her to make eye contact again. Realizing that in the morning sun her gold specks seem to engulf the brown and left a nice honey color, he smiled and stated, "I don't really understand what you're talking about, but it sounds like a goodbye."

She gulped, and replied, "That's because it is. This… it's a bad idea."

His expression became pensive, and then he asked, "Can I just say one thing before you say goodbye?"

She nodded, and he quickly brought his face down to hers and their lips locked. Without a doubt, he was giving this kiss everything he had, having wanted to do this act since he saw her three nights ago. And after her moment of shock, she was kissing him back like the earth was about to end. There was something electric in the kiss, something that charged both of them.

He broke the kiss, and her stomach fluttered again, nervous but in a good way. Their faces were close; each could feel the other's breath. Grinning like an idiot, he breathed, "Hi, I'm Luke."

"I'm trouble," she paused, and then smiled, adding, "Luke."

"I can handle trouble," he assured her. "And I just want to know your name."

"I don't think you can," she told him.

"Give me a chance, to prove you wrong."

She bit her lip, looking very unsure of what he was purposing, so he leaned in and kissed her again. It was shorter this time, but still had all the emotions of before. He whispered softly, "Please."

She smiled at him. "My name is Elizabeth."

He grinned like a little boy who just got a brand new toy, and kissed her again. "Hi Elizabeth."

Her face was bright with joy, but the sounds of people stirring awake brought her back to the present time. The joy left, her face now darkened by angst. "I uhh… do have to go do jobs up in Tennessee though."

"Oh." His face was suddenly darkened too. "For how long?"

"No more then eight days."

"When do you have to leave?"

"About an hour ago," she answered.

"So I supposed you need to go, don't cha?"

She nodded, and took a step towards her car, but then walked back to him. She gave him a quick peck on the lips, and her hand touched his face. "That wasn't a goodbye kiss, it was a see you later one. Eight days, okay?"

"Okay," he replied, and then watched her walk towards the car.

She opened the door, and glanced back at him. It was clear she did not want to leave. "Bye," she called.

"Bye," he replied, and then she was gone.

He sighed and turned back to his home. Both Daisy and Bo were peeking out the screen door, but Luke did not feel up to dealing with the nosey questions of his cousins, so instead he walked over to the barn, intended on finishing his chores for the day.

_Now if that little lady doesn't show up in eight days, there is gonna be one heartbroken Duke in Hazzard._


	3. Skinny Dipping Sort of

**A/N: **Things get a little bit more serious in this chapter, hope you enjoy.  
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Now, it's been eight days, and Luke just spent most of the night at the Boar's Nest, looking for a pretty little brunette. But folks, she wasn't there, and now he was riding home with Bo, in a surely mood._

Bo had tried to talk a couple times already in the drive back to the farm, but he never knew what to say. It was Daisy who was best at consoling the oldest Duke, the most Bo could ever do was do something idiotic and make him laugh, but Luke was in no mood for any of that tonight. So, in silence the two drove back, Bo searching for any words that would make his cousin feel better, even by a little.

Pulling into the Duke's farm it was Bo who saw it first. Grinning he tapped his cousin on the arm and exclaimed, "Luke look, we got a visitor."

Luke looked, and his mood was suddenly lifted. Sitting on the hood of her car, with long tan legs greeting them was Elizabeth. As the car pulled to a stop next to hers, he got out, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. She smiled back, as she slide off the car.

"Hello stranger," she greeted.

"Hey you," he shot back. "I thought you'd be at the Boar's Nest."

"I would have been, but I need to keep a low profile," she explained.

Luke went to ask why, when Bo interrupted the two. "Hi again miss."

"Well hi, how've you been?" she replied, grinning with ease at the situation.

"Good, a lot better then Luke here," he told her. "He's been a nervous wreck the whole past week."

"You don't say?" The grin she was sporting now had a little evil to it.

"Yeah, he was moping around here like a dog who done lost his bone," Bo informed her. "And you know, I don't believe I ever did catch your name."

"Elizabeth, this is my cousin Bo, who has to go to bed now," Luke stated, with a warning glare at his chatty cousin.

"Alright, I'll git. It was nice meeting you Elizabeth."

"You too, and you can call me Ellie Beth, or Ellie, everyone does," she told him.

"Will do Ellie, goodnight now, but I'm sure I'll see you around later," he responded with a meaningful wink at his older cousin, and then disappeared into the house.

Ellie flashed her eyes over to the man she came for, and took a step towards him. She lowered her head, and looked up at him with a small smile, saying, "I'm sorry I wasn't at the Boar's Nest, but it's probably not the best time for me to be showing my face around town."

It was then he noticed the damage to her car, banged up and looking like another car crashed into it on the driver's side. He had no doubt in his mind that was what happened. "Everything okay?" he asked, his brow scrunched in worry.

"Oh yeah, just some Tennessee sheriff thought he could run me off the road, but it's all okay, just some body damage," she explained. "It shouldn't take me too long to fix."

"You sure you're okay?" he questioned, now his concern focused on her well-being.

"Yeah, I can out drive any sheriff on the east coast," she reassured him. She smiled a carefree smile at him, and to quickly change the subject added, "But when I was in Tennessee I manage to find the AC/DC album, _For Those About to Rock_, it was one of the one I didn't have."

"AC what?" he asked, eyebrows rose.

She laughed, and went into her car, search for a cassette tape. Once she found it, she popped it into her radio, and motioned him to join her. "Come on, I'll educate you about some good music."

Luke grinned back, and got into the car, ready to learn.

_Now folks, this went on well into the summer. Ellie Beth would show up for a couple of days, have to leave, and then be back faster than an egg sucking dog on an egg. And when she was back, her and Luke were like grits and butter, always together._

"Come on stranger," Ellie Beth called, splashing water towards Luke, swimming around Hazzard pond, waiting for him to finish undressing. She treaded water, grinning, while her clothes lay in a pile near Luke's.

He shook off pants, and with in seconds he was jumping into the water, splashing the taunting girl.

"Luke!" she cried, but swam over to where the dark curly head had popped up.

Grinning at her, and wrapped an arm around her. "It was your idea to take a swim, don't get mad at me when you get wet."

"Oh, I'm not mad," she told him sweetly, cupping his cheek with her right hand, her left resting on his shoulder. "I just came over to do this."

She pursed her lips together, and leaned in closer, inches away from his lips. Yet, instead of going for a kiss, she brought her hand down to his shoulder and pushed, hard, swimming away. He went under for a couple seconds, and then emerged again. Grinning evilly, he started swimming towards her, warning, "You're gonna get it."

The two splashed and goofed around the pond until his arms found his way around her waist, her fingers intertwined with wet curls, and their lips locked in fierce passion. There was nothing that the two would have loved more to do then spend the rest of the afternoon kissing, but the sound of a car and someone getting out distracted them.

"Who could that be?" Luke groaned, shielding her half naked body against whoever was there.

As if to answer his question, a distinctive and familiar voice called out, "Stay Flash, there are dangerous criminals about."

Ellie Beth's eyes grew wide, and she gasped, "Rosco. He can't see me."

"Well what do you want me to do?" Luke asked, just in time to see her submerge, and to hear Rosco come around the corner. Luke glanced around quickly, trying to spot her and whispered hoarsely, "You can't stay under the water forever."

"Alright, who's swimming in a restrictive pond?" Rosco called, putting on his tough cough demeanor. He dropped the act slightly when he saw the man turning around in confusion. "Luke Duke, what are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Just going for a mid-afternoon swim."

"Well, ah don't know if you heard, but Boss had this pond sanctioned dangerous, and a no swimming zone."

"Rosco, we both know the only thing dangerous in this pond is when Boss does a cannonball," Luke retorted.

"Well still, if you don't get out of that water in the next minute, not only will you get a ticket, you'll also get a free ride to the slammer." Rosco smiled to himself and muttered, "I love it, I love it."

Luke glanced around for Ellie Beth one more time, still not seeing her. "Uh, I can't really get out in front of you."

"Why?" Rosco questioned suspiciously, glancing around, spotting the pile of clothing. "Oohh Luke, that's indecent exposure on top of swimming in a no swim zone."

"That's what I'm trying to avoid Rosco," Luke told him. "Now turn around."

Rosco turned around, muttering to himself, and Luke looked around anxiously trying to spot the vanished girl. And there she was, crouching behind bushes, dripping wet looking nervously towards the sheriff.

Their eyes connected, trying to figure out the answer to the situation. Luke shrugged, and Ellie Beth pointed towards her car and then back towards the sheriff. He nodded, having a vague understanding of the plan.

Luke splashed the water, and sunk down in it, calling out, "Rosco, help."

"What is it? I know you can't be drowning, you can stand up perfectly fine," Rosco asked, sounding annoyed.

"My foot is stuck in the sand," he clarified to the older man, as Ellie Beth snuck by him, grabbing the clothes and rushing to the car.

"Well, yank it out yourself," Rosco told him, uncomfortable at the idea of having to help a "naked" Luke. Luke was glad about that, even though he did have boxers on, it would still be extremely awkward.

"I can't, I tried that already. Just come closer to the water and help me." Rosco still seemed uncertain, so Luke added, "If I'm stuck in the water, you can't cuff me and stuff me."

"Fine," he grumbled and walked closer to the waterfront. He bent over, and stretched his body out towards Luke. Luke grabbed hold, and pretended to be struggling until the both heard the roar of a car coming to life.

"What is that?" Rosco questioned, looking over to the sound, almost letting go of Luke's hand.

Luke took this moment of distraction, and yanked on Rosco's hand, sending him flying into the pond. By the time Rosco had resurfaced, and spit out the mouthful of water, he had enough time to see Luke hop into a dark blue vehicle, and drive away.

Ellie Beth glanced over her shoulder in time to see Rosco getting out of the water, shaking his fist. Laughing, she muttered, "That should keep him busy for a while." Then grinning at Luke she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You were pretty good at shucking and jiving Rosco."

"Years of practice," he assured, taking a long look of her. She had thrown on Luke's shirt, her wet hair was clinging to her face, and her long legs were free of any shorts.

He reached out, placed his hand on her thigh, and looked up at her suggestively.

At his touch, she blushed and glanced at him. The first thing she noticed was his twinkling blue eyes and the second was how clingy his wet boxers were. She had to glance away quickly, or she would have probably run them off the road.

"Are you gonna get dressed, or let everything air dry?" she asked with a mischievous grin on.

Neither of them noticed that it started to rain; they became to focus on what Luke was doing next. Luke's hand traveled up to the buttons of her shirt, weaving his hand underneath the cotton to touch bare skin. She inhaled sharply at his cold hand touching her wet skin, getting closer to her soaking bra. Smiling at her reaction, he leaned in closer to her, his breath tickling her neck.

"I was thinking of taking my shirt back," he mumbled, kissing her neck softly while his hands moved to unbutton the shirt.

"Luke," she moaned softly, resisting the urge to close her eyes. "You're gonna make me crash."

"What a way to go though," he teased as his lips caressed her collarbone.

Any more protest died in Ellie Beth's throat, as sirens blasted from behind them. Luke groaned and moved off of her. Muttering under his breath he said, "Dang it Rosco, always ruining a good time."

"Put on some clothes while I lose him," she ordered, glad to get ride of the dangerous distraction.

Grumbling, he climbed in the backseat and searched for his remaining clothes. As she turned the corner, he braced himself and asked, "Have you seen my pants?"

"Your pants, your pants," she repeated thoughtfully. Then her eyes went wide, her face lit up in shock and she gasped.

"What? Elizabeth, please tell me you did not forget my pants."

She laughed, grinning as she answered, "Check under the seat, I know I grabbed them."

He found them and quickly pulled them on, only with some difficult as the car swerved constantly. He glanced around and noticed just how hard it was raining, he could not see past a few feet.

"Elli Beth, try going straight, it might help keep your car under control," he told her as he climbed back into the passenger's seat.

"You want to get rid of the sheriff or not?" she replied. "I swerve, he swerves, it's classic monkey see, monkey do. And I bet Rosco doesn't know how to drive in this kind of weather."

"Are you sure you know how to?" he asked uncertain as she seemed to veer a little too far.

"Yeah, I used to get so much rain back when I lived in New Hampshire, this is a piece of cake," she guaranteed. "And feel free to take notes as I lose the cop."

She glanced back as Rosco came back on their tail, she rev up the engine gunning for the next turn. Rosco followed, also increasing his speed. As the turn grew closer, she slammed on her brakes, sending her car whirling around, but still in control. When Rosco did the same, his car ended up spin out in a circle a few times before it hit a tree with the driver side, finally coming to a stop.

Ellie Beth halted her car, and both her and Luke glanced over to see if the sheriff was all right. Steam poured out of the hood of the patrol car, but other than that Rosco was fine, especially when he shook his fist and cried out at the two.

Laughing, she started up the car again, driving off in the opposite direction of the cop. Luke joined in on the laughter, saying, "Good driving, I guess you really can handle yourself."

"Thanks," she replied, focusing her attention now on the road and the growing storm.

"Now, about my shirt," he began and his hands found their way back to her body.

"Luke, stop," she warned in a moan.

"Just one more button," he told her, his mouth sensually close to her ear.

"I can't concentrate with you doing that," she whispered.

"What?"

"Being irresistible," she breathed.

Luke's response was to kiss her, and keep kissing her, which was not a smart idea since all her warning had a valid reason behind it. It only took a second for her to subdue to her urges and close her eyes. Only in that second, the car veered off the road, getting a rear tire stuck in a ditch and stalling.

The car jolted, shaking the two occupants inside. Luke gazed around and asked, "You okay?" Ellie Beth nodded. "What happen?"

"I told you to stop," she snapped, "but you didn't and now we've run off the road."

He sighed in frustration and shot back, "How about you just start the car before you start to worry."

She turned the key and the car restarted. She ignored his smug look, and then applied a little pressure to the gas pedal. The car roared, but remained stationary. She cursed, and applied more pressure to the pedal. Still nothing.

"Great, just fantastic," she muttered.

"I'll go see the problem," he told her, getting out of the car. He walked around to the back of the car, noticing it was lower then the rest of it. He tapped the trunk and called, "You're in a ditch, trying going in reverse."

He watched as the tires spun, but went nowhere. Sighing, he walked up to the driver's door and stated, "You're stuck in mud. Not much we can do about it."

"What?" she cried, and got out of the car to check herself.

He watched as she examined her car, and then finally kicked the tire out of frustration. He smiled smugly at her and asked, "So does this mean I can get back in the car now?"

She just stormed passed him, and got back in the car, so he followed suit. As he sat down, she reached across him, opening the glove compartment and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He stared at her, shocked, as she went to open it.

"I thought you were going to quit that," he grumbled, reaching out and grabbing her hand with the cigarettes.

"I'm trying, I only smoke when I get stressed," she defended.

"Your car is stuck, it's not that big of a deal," he told her, still holding her back from smoking.

"It is when I'm supposed to meet JD tomorrow, early," she shot back. "And I don't see the car moving anywhere anytime soon."

Then a horrified look crossed her face since she had never told Luke whom she worked for. She had kept it a secret ever since she figured out how much he despised JD Hogg.

He took the cigarettes out of her hands, and tossed the cigarettes out the window.

"What the hell?" she yelled, and got out of the car chasing after the thrown box.

He jumped out of the car after her, screaming above the storm, "Ellie Beth, get back in the car."

The rain was pouring down so hard now, he could barely see the girl standing a few feet in front of him. He did not like it when it poured this hard; it always meant a big storm was coming. He grabbed her arm, making her stop her search for nicotine.

"Elizabeth, get back in the car before you catch a cold."

"You know, this is why I didn't tell you I worked for Boss Hogg, I knew you would overreact," she shouted at him.

"Guess what sweetie, I knew you worked for JD," he yelled back at her.

Her anger suddenly vanished and it was replaced by surprise. "You knew?"

"The only people Boss Hogg let's run shine in Hazzard are his people," he explained. "There was no way you could have so many jobs without being on Hogg's payroll."

_There always was no doubt about it; Luke has a good head on his shoulder._

"So, are you mad?" she asked.

"We've all got to make a living," he shrugged.

His nonchalant attitude pushed the wrong button. She shoved with all her might and exclaimed, "Then why did you throw my cigarettes out of the car?"

"Because you told me you had three days off, and now I find out you've got a job tomorrow," he shot back.

"It's not a job, just a meeting," she corrected him.

"Which will lead to a job."

"No it won't."

"You don't know Boss Hogg like I do," he stated.

"Oh you just think you know everything, don't you?" she retorted. "Fine, you're right."

With that statement she walked towards the back of her car and began pushing. Luke walked over to her and asked, amused, "What are you doing?"

"Getting my car unstuck so we can leave and I can get back to my _job_," she clarified, struggling against the mud and the weight of the car.

He went to make a comment, when a clap of thunder drowned out his words. He walked over to her and called out, "Yeah, that's a smart idea, pushing a car during the middle of a thunderstorm."

She stopped, realizing she he was right, but she would not admit that right now.

"Come on, let's get in the car now."

There was another clap of thunder, louder this time, so she snapped, "Yeah, that's a smarter idea, getting into a metal box during the middle of a thunderstorm."

"Well we can't stay out here and get soak," he shot back.

"You're the yokel, isn't there somewhere close we can stay, or a friendly neighbor?" she asked, frustration rolling off her.

He thought for a moment, and then nodded. "The old Daley's house is half a mile up ahead. Let's hurry before the storm gets closer."

He tugged at her arm, but she resisted it. "What about Davis?"

"She'll be fine," he reassured her. "Us on the other hand, are gonna drown out here."

"Fine," she muttered, and let herself get lead away.

They half ran, half walked through the countryside for a little ways, till finally they came to a run down, abandoned shack. A one-story house, the roof absent of a few shingles with a number of windows missing a shutter and that looked like a strong gust of wind would knock it down. The only splash of color against the grey exterior was green mold growing on the side.

The look from Luke told her to hold in her groan, which she did. Once inside though, as she shivered against the cold of her soaked shirt, she muttered, "At least it's dry."

"Sorry it's not the Ritz," he snapped back.

"Oh fine, thank you Luke, thank you for saving me, thank you for bringing me here and saving poor little old me," she retorted, sitting down on the floor in a huff.

"If we're just gonna fight, let's not talk," he suggested and sat down across the dusty room.

They were silent for a while, both focusing on their own thoughts. After a few minutes, Ellie Beth glanced over her shoulder and apologized, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about working for JD Hogg."

He grunted in response.

"It was just that I heard the way you talked about him, and I was afraid that you're think I as the same no good dirty scoundrel."

"I wouldn't," he muttered, half to himself.

"The thing is though, I am," she confessed softly. "My daddy got caught while he was working for JD, my brother still works with JD, and he gave me my first job at eight, helping him with a con which I gladly participated in. And JD been good to me, so I don't think twice when he asks me to run shine for him."

She paused, and he wondered if she was waiting for him to say something. As he tried to find the right words to say out loud from a swirl of wrong ones, she continued, "And there are some bad things about myself I don't like, some of them I can change, and some of them I can't. And I never changed because I never needed to, especially in my family. The way I was was perfectly acceptable. But now that you're in the picture, the bad things I can change, I'm gonna try to. It's just going to take time, and I just need a little patience from you."

He suddenly felt a pressure on his shoulder as she placed her head there. He smiled at the contact, wishing he had seen her crawl across the floor wearing his shirt. Speaking of which, he felt the soak material against his bare skin and shivered.

"So how about this, you work on that temper while I'm trying to change?" she bargained.

"Me? You've got a worse temper then I do," he reminded her with a playful grin. "Why don't you try fixing that?"

"I have, it's one of those things I can't change," she told him, smiling back.

He went in for the kiss, the fiery passion overwhelmed them, and in with in seconds they were both lying on the floor, hands roaming over each other's body. They held each other as close as they could get, both needing more, but Luke suddenly pulled away.

"What is it?" she asked, getting over the shock of his lips absence.

"I…I don't want to screw this up," he confessed.

"You won't," she reassured him. Slowly she smiled and leaned into him. "There's nothing I like doing more."

"That's the thing, we've never and I, uh…" He trailed off, suddenly looking away.

"Have _you_ ever…"

"Yes, yes," he responded quickly, making her laugh.

"I figured you have, so what's the problem? I like you, you like me," she asked softly, giving him a kiss, hoping that would stop them from talking all night.

He broke the kiss, his brow scrunched in anxiety. "Ellie Beth, I think I might be… I think I'm falling in love with you."

Silence greeted him, silence and her brown eyes gaping at him, but slowly a smile formed on her face and her brown eyes sparkled with joy. Her lips found his, and he could feel the smile on her lips. Pulling away from him, she confessed, "I'm falling for you Luke, falling hard, and I love it."

He kissed her, and pulled her down to the floor with him. They continued to kiss till their remaining clothes were off, thrown together in a pile.


	4. In the Morning Light

**A/N:** Another chapter and I've got nothing to say right now, so enjoy.  


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Luke woke up the next morning, the sun on his face, his body sore in a good way, and with a very naked girl draped across his body. His shirt was their only coverage, and the most it was covering was the curvy part of her backside. His hand traced down her spine, her skin was so soft he didn't want to stop touching her. Brown eyes fluttered open by the third time his fingers ran down her spine.

Smiling, she greeted in a mumble, "Mornin'."

"Hey you," he responded, kissing her lightly on the head of wonderful brown hair. "How'd you sleep?"

She repositioned her body closer to his and answered, "Good, but the next time we do this though, we need to bring a blanket."

"There's gonna be a next time, huh?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I hope so, I like having some time to ourselves," she told him, grinning back at him.

"Come here," he beckoned, and soon her body was covering his, their lips mashed together.

Her head rested on his chest, her smile never fading, and his fingers stroked the curves of her body. He loved touching her, feeling the connection they had with each other, and knowing here, nothing could touch them. Not her job, not a family obligation, no interruptions.

The sensation of her body pressing closer to his, filled Luke, he smiled as she asked, half asleep, "Can we stay here forever?"

Smiling to himself, he answered, "No, not forever."

"For a little bit longer?"

"Yes, we can stay for a little while longer."

She smiled and let out a very happy sigh.

* * *

Jefferson Davis Hogg, chomped down angrily on his big fat cigar, grumbling to himself. His beady brown eyes glanced around, waiting for someone who was very late. His nerves were on edge, he hated when people who worked for him were late, especially over three hours late.

Rosco came through the office doors, hat in hand, and looked gingerly at his boss. When it was clear to him that JD Hogg was mad, he tried to back out quickly.

"Rosco!" he cried, and the sheriff came in the room. "Now tell me Rosco, did you find out who helped Luke Duke, and arrest them? Or better yet, did you arrest Luke?"

"Um… well no, but ah got close," he assured the shorter man. "Ah tried to find where that car would have gone, but the rain washed away the tracks."

"Well of course the rain is gonna wash it away," Boss replied surly. "What I pay you to do is to use that thing between your shoulders that holds up you hat, and figure out where they could have been going."

"But little fat buddy, that road goes everywhere. It doubles back into town, goes off to Chickasaw, Ponatium, or over to the interstate, how was ah supposed to where de went?"

"I ain't your little fat buddy Rosco," Boss corrected him, "and I already told you how, use your head! That's what it's there for besides being emptier than the Duke's saving account."

With that being said, Boss reach for a half empty jar of pickled pig's feet, and chewed heatedly on one. Rosco watched for a second, and then ventured, "Boss, you seem more upset then usually about me losing a Duke. Is there something else weighing on that fat little mind of yours?"

Boss swallowed, and then muttered, "It's EB."

"Who?" Rosco questioned, sitting down, reaching for a pig's foot, which he received a slap for.

"EB, my employee, is late."

"Well maybe he's lost. Hazzard can be a tricky place to drive around if you don't know your way," Rosco suggested.

"No, no, EB has been coming here since before you were the sheriff," Boss corrected him. "And I said at 10, and EB has never been late before, something must be wrong."

"No don't worry your fat little head about it, ah am sure EB will show up with a good explanation, and if he doesn't, you'll fire him."

"It's more complicated than that with EB," Boss grumbled.

"Talkin' about me again?" a voice asked at the door.

Boss glanced up, while Rosco turned around and gasped. Standing there was not who he expected EB to be. Tall, lean legs in very short shorts, matched with a low cut tang top showing off her appeasing body parts, Ellie Beth grinned her hello to the two older men.

Boss Hogg frowned, and mumbled, "About time, it's past one."

"I'm sorry, I got stuck in the mud, and had to wait for the mud to dry," she stated, and walked over to the table to them. "I got here as fast as I could."

"That's no excuse, I said ten, not one, and if you're not gonna show up on time I'm not gonna believe you really want to keep paying off your debt."

"Oh relax big man, I'm here, what do you need?" she asked. It was then she noticed the gaping sheriff at her. "Uh, hello Sheriff."

"Do we uh, do we know each other?" he asked, stunned she was talking to him.

"Oh come on, remember my brother and I used to come around, and you had us call you 'Unky Sheriff'," she reminded him.

Rosco stared at her for a moment longer, and than recognition dawned on his face. Standing up he looked her up and down, and than brought her into a hug. "Ellie Beth. Ellie Beth is that really you? Ah haven't seen you or your brother in the longest time."

"I know, but you missed me more, right? You know my brother used to call you 'Uncle Dipstick'?"

"Oh, well of course ah always did like you best," Rosco confessed.

They shared a laugh that was cut short by Boss. "EB, now that this little love feast is over, can we get down to business?"

She sat down at the table and looked him square in the eye, stating, "What's up big guy?"

"I give you housing while you're out here, and all I ask is you check in with me," he told her, frowning.

"That, and what, the seven thousand I still owe you?" she mumbled under her breath.

"That would be nice too," Boss agreed slyly, shocking Ellie Beth.

She grinned, and to Rosco's amazement, Boss Hogg grinned back. Stealing the sheriff's place, she sat at the table and looked him in the eye, asking, "So was this just to check in on me or was there something else to it?"

"Well, now that you mention it," he started, in his sweetest voice ever. "I've got a chance for you too make over six hundred dollars, a job through Chickasaw. What do you say?"

"Sounds good, when?" she asked, eyes lit up.

"Today, later tonight."

"What happened to my days off? I still have two days," she groaned.

"It's six hundred dollars," he reminded her.

"It's my day off."

"I'll make it seven," he offered.

She bit her lip. Seven hundred was more than he ever offered. Still, she couldn't do that to Luke. "No go Boss Man."

Boss Hogg frowned, he was not used to her saying no. "Eight?"

"Can't it just wait a day or two? Or can't you get Frank?" she replied, sighing.

"It's Chickasaw County, not just anyone has the skill for it. I need you."

"Well too bad. You said I could have three days off, so I want three days off."

"Eight fifty?"

She stood up, and throwing her hands in the air too. "You just don't get it. This isn't about the money, it's about me needing a break from all this."

"An even thousand, Ellie Beth, and you'll be back before midnight," he offered, trying to hide his desperation.

Ellie Beth paused at the door; doubtful she would ever get this good of an offer again. She wanted to turn around and take it, or at least say she would think about it and then talking to Luke about taking it, hopefully he would understand it was just for the money. However, then she thought about Luke, and him holding her, and waking up in his arms. She didn't want to miss that opportunity again. Hiding the grin on her face, she told Boss Hogg, "Sorry, I got a better offer."

She walked through the doors and out into the bar, ignoring all his calls after her.

As the door shut, Boss Hogg sat down sighing. Rosco's mouth hung open in amazement at the amount Boss was offering and the fact she turned him down. Boss glared at his open mouth and snapped, "Rosco, shut your trap, you look like a trout."

"Ah'm sorry little fat buddy," he mumbled. "Whatcha gonna do now?"

"There's only two other people I know with the skills to drive in Chickasaw, and I've got one of them sitting in my jail cell as luck would have it," Boss Hogg informed him with an evil grin.

Walking to her car, Ellie Beth almost felt like skipping. She could not wait to find Luke and tell him she was completely his tonight. And maybe she didn't have to wait too long because a familiar orange car pulled up quickly to the Boar's Nest.

Grinning at him, as he quickly pulled himself out of the car, she called, "Hi stranger, miss me already?"

Luke did not seem to notice her as he stormed towards the bar. There was something terrible wrong. She stopped him, hand cupping his face and asked, "Luke, what's wrong?"

"It's JD, he went after Bo, when I escaped from Rosco yesterday," he told her truthfully, slumping down leaning against the hood of his car.

"What?"

"He had Bo arrested, and won't tell any of us the charges or set bail. And when he does he's probably gonna set it at some ridiculously high amount."

There was a long moment of silence, and Ellie Beth could tell Luke was just beating himself up over this, even though there would have been nothing he can do. She put her arms around him and said, "Well, we have to get him out then."

He glanced up at her confused. "What, how?"

She leaned against the hood next to him and confessed, "JD just offered me a job, he seems pretty desperate to have someone do it, and I think I can get his price above a thousand. I turned him down, but we can't let your family rot in jail, can we?"

"Ellie Beth, I can't let you do that, what if the job turns dangerous and that's too much money to ask for?" he replied, anxious and worried.

"Don't worry about me, it's a perfectly safe job. I want to help, and it is just money," she told him, lying only about the first part.

"No, that's too much," he responded, shaking his head.

"It's fine Luke, it doesn't matter to me, I just want to help," she assured him, making him look at her in the eyes so he could tell how serious she was.

"No matter what the amount, we'll pay you back," he swore.

"I know that, and I'm not concerned about it."

He smiled at her, and just stared at her for a while till finally her curiosity got the better of her. "What is it?"

"I'm just thinking of last night, and what was said," he explained. "And how as soon as this is all sorted out I want you back in my arms."

She blushed and had to turn away from him. "All right then. I'll go take the job from Boss, you go visit your cousin, tell him we've got a plan, we'll figure out a way for me to slip you money, I'll run the job while you spring your cousin, and then I should be done by midnight."

He nodded to the plan, and added, "I think afterwards we should have a meeting place, just so I can thank you properly."

"Alright, I think my car might need a checkup after this job, Cooter's is still the best garage in town, right?"

"Sure is, I'll make a call and it will be open when you get back, and I'll be there too," he told her.

They shared a quick secret kiss before they went their separate ways.

Luke hurried over to the prison cell in Hazzard, only to find Boss and Rosco had already beaten him there.

"Well, well, if it isn't Luke Duke to the rescue," Boss Hogg greeted him.

Luke's hand closed over the wade of money he had gotten from the sugar jar from the farm, knowing it would not even begin to be close enough without Ellie Beth's contribute. Through gritted teeth, Luke replied, "That's right Boss, now how much is the bail?"

"Oh well, if you or your cousin would be so kind as to do me a favor, we can forget this whole thing," Boss told him sweetly.

Bo was about to willingly agree, but Luke held up a hand to stop him. "What kind of favor?"

"Oh, I just need someone to run a couple items over to another county, that's all," Boss answered, still in that sickly sweet voice of his.

"You mean like moonshine? The answer is no Boss."

"Fine, then the bail is seven-fifty, let's see you come up with that," Boss responded, his true voice finally coming out, cold and harsh.

"We will," Luke told him defiantly.

"Luke, we don't have that kind of money," Bo argued in a whisper to his older cousin. "I'll take the job, no body can catch me when I'm running shine."

"No. If I know Boss this is some sort of trick where we'll do a job for him and then he'll try to arrest us for it. I can get the money," Luke assured him.

"Why I would never do such a thing," Boss defended, yet everyone knew he was lying.

"Just forget it Boss, I'll get you your bail money," Luke told him definitely, while Bo still looked unsure.

Boss Hogg was about to persuade him otherwise, when Enos came bustling down the stairs. He greeted everyone with a nodded of his head and his goofy grin saying, "Boss Hogg, someone's here to see you."

"Well who is it?" Boss grumbled.

"EB came about that…" Enos paused, glancing at the Duke boys, trying to figure out a sly way of saying job, so he said instead, "offer."

"Oh, my, my, my," Boss mused. "This is your last chance Dukes, if I leave the deal's off the table."

Bo was about to speak up again, but once again Luke stopped him. "No Boss, we don't need your deal."

Frowning, Boss muttered, "Fine," and headed up the stairs towards his office.

"Luke, are you crazy!" Bo whispered hoarsely. "How are we gonna get that kind of money?"

"We're gonna borrow it," Luke replied calmly.

"From who? The only person with that kind of money to spend is Boss and I don't see him giving us any money to bail ourselves out of his jail anytime soon," Bo shot back.

"Just calm down, I'll go get the money now," Luke assured him and headed out to the town square to meet Ellie Beth.

Luke sat on the bench across from the town hall, waiting for Ellie Beth to come out. It took a few minutes, but finally she came trotting down the steps, caught his eye and indicated for him to follow her. Leading him to the alley behind, once they were safe from prying eyes, she spun around, grinning and fanning out the money.

"I talked him up to thirteen hundred and manage to get seven hundred up front," she told him triumphantly. He was just staring at her and suddenly she got a horrible thought. "That is enough, right? I can go see if I can get more."

He shook his head, still amazed. "No, that's almost all of the bail, I've just never seen anyone come out winning with a deal from Boss."

"Well maybe that's because I'm the best," she said teasingly, tracing the ends of the green bills across his chest and up to his cheek. Luke went to grab the money, but she pulled it away and asked, in a seductive tone, "Who's the best?"

He just grinned, leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear, "You, you're the best, at everything."

His lips then brushed up against her neck, and she gave a low moan. "Hey you, you need to stop that or your cousin will end up spending the night in jail and I won't get my job done."

"All right," he sighed, and took a step back from her.

She handed him the money, and ordered, "Take it, and go get Bo."

"Yes ma'am," he replied, and asked, "Are you still going to be at Cooter's after?"

She nodded, he gave her a quick kiss, and said, "I'll see you there, and good luck."

She smiled her thanks and then hurried off to finish this job quickly.

* * *

Boss and Bo's mouths hung open as they watch Luke count out the money and hand it back over to Boss. Luke appreciated the irony of this situation that Boss had really paid to get Bo out of jail, and was only getting handed back his money that he lost five minutes ago.

Bo was getting antsy at the sight of the money, wanting to ask where it came from. He almost did a couple of times before Rosco let him out of his cell, but the warning glare from his older cousin kept his impromptu tongue in line. Impatiently he waited as Rosco, grumbling, opened up his cell door and let him out. Grinning, he nodded his thanks and followed his cousin out the door.

Once free, and out on the street again, Bo let out a yell of joy and grabbed his cousin. "Luke, where did you get all that money?"

"I borrowed it, like I said before," he answered, leading Bo towards the General.

"From who?"

"Ellie Beth."

"Yee-haw, you hit the jackpot cousin, good looks, nice car and money!" Bo exclaimed. "She got any sisters?"

"A brother, if you're interested," Luke told him with a grin.

Bo laughed shaking his head. "It's a good thing you came back, when you did. I was about to take the job, until Rosco said it was in Chickasaw County. I'm not messing with Sheriff Little again, not after last time. Do you remember, how big of a hole his shot left in the General's bumper?"

Luke did not say anything. His face had suddenly lost color, and he stopped by the driver's side of the Dodge Charger.

"Luke. Luke, you okay?" Bo asked, noticing the sudden change in his cousin's demeanor.

His mouth was dry, but somehow he asked, "Where was the job?"

"Chickasaw County."

His heart raced, and for a second his breathing stopped. Bo was staring at him, wondering why he had changed all of a sudden. Luke tossed him the keys and told him, "Go home Bo, and stay home. We can't afford to bail you out again."

"Aren't you coming? Uncle Jesse isn't gonna be happy if you spend two nights away from the farm without calling," Bo warned him.

"I'll call, I just have to wait for Ellie Beth."

Bo grinned, and winked at him. "To thank her properly, right? Don't worry, I'll cover for you with Uncle Jesse."

Luke nodded, still in a slight daze of worry, and headed over to Cooter's garage to wait for his girl.

It was past midnight, and Luke still hadn't heard anything from Ellie Beth, he paced the garage, glancing at the one clock there, watching as it slowly ticked by. The last time he remembered checking it was almost two thirty am, and there was still no Ellie Beth. He hadn't meant to sit down and close his eyes, but his eyes closed by themselves and didn't open up till he heard the door to the garage creak open, and small rumble of a car attempting to be pushed into the empty space.

"Is that you?" he asked, voice cracking from sleep.

"Oh hey stranger, you wanna help me real quick?" she asked from the darkness, trying to push her car into the garage.

"Are you crazy?" he cried. "It's… way past midnight."

"Yeah, that's why I'm trying not to wake up the neighbors by starting my car. Are you gonna help or not?" she asked, her voice straining from the effort.

He started pushing on the other side and soon the car was safe in the garage, and she was locking the door. He turned on the lights quickly, not caring as she winced from the sudden light, and he took in her appearance. There were no obvious injuries, so sighing with relief he pulled her into a hug.

"Are you crazy Elizabeth! Chickasaw County! What were you thinking? Sheriff Little likes to shoot first, ask questions later," he scolded, holding her tighter.

"Yeah, I know that," she told him. "I might have run into him."

"What?" Luke pulled away and began to inspect her closer. "Are you okay? Did he shoot at you?"

"Luke, I'm fine," she reassured him. "Everything is fine now. Bo's free, the job's done, and I'm back, with you."

"Something happened though, didn't it? It's too late for you to be coming back if something didn't happen."

Laughing, she teased, "You don't even know what time it is. Relax, everything is okay now."

"What happened Elizabeth?" he questioned, his voice completely serious.

Sighing, she retold her night. "I was at the drop off, and had just finished unloading everything, when Sheriff Little showed up. The people I was delivering the moonshine for got away, but I was stuck. I tried to be as silent as I could, but then I started cough, and couldn't stop. He heard me, chased me and shot at me as I was trying to loose him along route thirty-four. I think he got Davis, but I am fine Luke, perfectly fine."

"Don't ever scare me like that," Luke told her, taking her back in his arms. "Why would you even take a job in Chickasaw?"

"Bo was in jail, would you have prefer that I let JD con him into doing the job?" she shot back.

"If I had known the job was through Chickasaw, I would have never had let you take it," he told her.

"Well, I'm a big girl and don't need your permission." Sighing, she sat down, exhausted and not wanting to fight anymore.

Luke replied with a sigh and sat down next to her. "Fine, you don't need my permission, just can you do me a favor?"

Holding back a groan, she asked, "What?"

"No more jobs in Chickasaw, I can't stand the idea of you being chased by a shooting sheriff," he requested.

She nodded and leaned against him. "So can I go to sleep now?"

Smiling at her, he got up and helped her to stand again. "Come on, Cooter keeps a mattress up in his loft."

"Are you staying with me?" she asked, as he led her to the ladder connecting the garage to the loft.

He leaned into her, pressed his lips against hers, and kissed her deeply. "I'll be right up."

Smiling, she headed up the ladder. He walked over to the light switch, checking the clock one last time before bring the garage back into the privacy of darkness. The time was four twenty-eight.


	5. Trouble

**A/N:** so I see that I made a mistake last chapter about the prison versus jail cells, so sorry about that. And here's another chapter for you guys. Enjoy.  


* * *

Cooter was whistling as he turned the key and unlocked the door to his garage. The first thing he noticed was the car in his garage. Glancing it over he took in the damage to it. Everything was fine, except for the couple suspiciously shaped holes in the rear bumper and on the driver's side. Sighing, he shook his head, knowing whom the car belonged to and what probably happened.

Ellie Beth jumped at the sound of the door creaking open, pulling away from Luke's hold. He just groaned, and rolled over. She pulled on her shorts, and buttoned up Luke's shirt that once again she was wearing as a nightgown.

She slowly made her way over to the ladder and peered down. She could not see anyone, but she heard someone. Carefully, she made her way down to inspect the garage. At first glance, nothing, then he popped his head up, grinning that Cheshire cat grin.

"Hiya EB," he greeted casually.

"Hey Cooter."

He took in her appearance, smiling slyly. "My, my, my. You look like you had a rough night. Davis is shot up, and you're wearing someone else's shirt. If your uncle could see you now, what would he say?"

She just rolled her eyes. Cooter took a better look at the shirt and began to recognize it. "Ellie Beth, who does that shirt belong to?"

"Don't worry about it."

"It better not belong to who I think it belongs to," he warned.

"Who do you think it belongs to?"

"Lukas K. -" Cooter began, but was cut off.

"Ellie Beth!" Luke suddenly cried. "Ellie Beth, Elizabeth!"

"I'm down here," she called back, worried by the anxiety in his voice.

They watched as he scrambled down the ladder and raced to her, he wrapped his arms around her. "I thought I heard Sheriff Little, and a gunshot."

"No, I'm fine, we went over this last night. You must have been dreaming, everything is okay," she assured him.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and kissed her forehead. "Good."

"Uh, I hate to interrupt this little love fest, but I just want to know how y'all got mixed up together," Cooter questioned.

She just shrugged, and said simply, "How anybody gets mixed up in Hazzard, the Boar's Nest."

"Well don't you two make a strange couple," Cooter replied, still grinning.

"Much obliged Cooter for letting us use your garage," Luke told him.

"Yeah sure, maybe I should just rename this place, Cupid's Love Nest," Cooter muttered.

Ellie Beth slipped away from the two, and headed over to the ladder, attempting to hold in her coughs. The two did not seem to miss her until her coughing escaped. They both turned to see her collapse to the ground, in a fit of coughing.

Luke ran to her side, and asked, "You okay?" She nodded, but he wasn't convinced. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's fine, I'm just gonna go lie down."

"Do you need anything?"

"Maybe a glass of water."

"Okay I'll get you one."

"Thanks."

Luke headed over to the sink, searching for the glasses, and Cooter followed. Laughing at the situation, saying, "You know if Boss Hogg finds out about you two, you're dead."

"I reckon that," Luke replied.

"And you're okay with that? With who she is?" Cooter asked, astonished by Luke's nonchalant attitude.

"Yeah, well, not really, but we all have to make a living. I mean she's got a debt to pay off, and we all have to survive," Luke confessed. "Also, a job doesn't define a person. I mean, yeah she runs shine, steals cars-"

"And participates in Boss Hogg's schemes, don't forget that," Cooter added.

"Yeah, she does all that, but away from that she's a really good person. She's just so energetic, full of life, she's always smiling, and she's smart too. Did you know she has a degree in chemistry from NYU?"

"One she probably bought," Cooter muttered.

"No, that was her brother, he bribed the dean to get his degree. She's something else, Coot, and when I'm with her it's hard for me to believe she could ever do anything bad. All I see is the good."

"Well Luke Duke, if I didn't know you any better, I'd say you're in Love, with a big 'L'."

Luke grinned sheepishly at his lifelong friend and told him honestly, "I think I might be."

"Well the world is coming to an end, never thought I'd see this day, you go head over heels for a pretty face," Cooter commented grinning.

Before they could continue, the familiar sound of a Dixie horn blared, and both men turned to see the bright orange General pull up, and out climbed the bodies of Bo and Daisy Duke.

"Hi sugar," Daisy greeted them kindly, and sharing a grin with Bo as they both realized their eldest cousin didn't have a shirt on. They didn't need too much imagination to understand why.

"So uh cuz, I hoped you thank Ellie Beth properly for me," Bo said, sending him a sly grin.

"So where is Ellie?" Daisy asked. "Uncle Jesse wants to invite her to dinner to thank her."

"I was just about to bring this glass of water up to her," Luke said.

"I'll do it," Bo volunteered. "I wanted to thank her anyways."

As Luke watch Bo slowly climb the ladder only using one hand, Daisy was looking at Ellie Beth's car, and spotted the same thing Cooter did when he came first came in. Her eyes went wide and her voice was deadly quiet as she asked, "Luke, are these bullet holes?"

He came around, and glanced at the sight. There were five bullet holes in the back of her car, and three more on the driver's side of the car like she said. He ran a hand through his hair as he exclaimed softly, "Oh God."

Suddenly there was a yelp and a loud thud heard from upstairs. Luke raced over and up the ladder, to find Bo on the floor, the glass of water spilt, and Ellie Beth sounding like she was hacking up a lung.

"What happened?" he asked, going to her side.

"Nothing. I came up here, and she wasn't moving so I said her name, but she still didn't move. So as I was about to turn around and go back down, she bolts up, and starts coughing. I just got kinda startled," Bo finished, slightly embarrassed.

"Bo, go get her another glass of water, she sounds like she's dying," Luke ordered.

"Alright, but um, Uncle Jesse also sent us here to tell you that he wants to see you, _now_. He's really angry with the fact you haven't been home for two days," Bo explained.

Luke was about to argue, when Ellie Beth cut him off. "Bo could I get that glass of water please?"

Bo nodded and quickly headed down the ladder, eager to avoid a fight with Luke. She turned to him and with a smile, told him, "Go home Luke. I'm sick, there's no point of getting you sick too. Go talk to your uncle, I'll be fine. I've got to go talk to JD about the Sheriff Little situation anyways. Go home before your uncle gets madder."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now take your shirt back so you at least look somewhat presentable," she stated, taking off his shirt and throwing it back at him.

"All right, if you insist," he replied, putting on his shirt as she found her own.

Bo's head popped back up and he said, careful to not interrupt anything, "Got you that water Ellie."

"Thanks Bo," she replied, and took a big gulp once it was in her hand.

"Luke, I think we better get going soon," Bo bravely ventured.

"Yeah, you're right, let's go," Luke agreed, sighing. He kissed Ellie Beth on the forehead goodbye, and began to follow Bo down the ladder.

"Luke," she called after him and he stopped, staring at her. She brought her knees up to her chest before continuing. "I might have to leave Hazzard pretty soon for a little while."

"How long is a little while?" he asked, frozen.

"Two weeks, probably more," she answered softly. Glancing up at him, she added, sounding guilty, "But I can probably sneak back earlier, if even just to see you. But going back to Atlanta, even for a week could do me some good. You know, catch up on some things I left back there, maybe even go see a doctor for this cough."

Luke came back on the loft. "Is this all because of last night?"

"I really shouldn't be so close when you-know-who is looking for me. It's safer for me in Atlanta. Plus, I don't even remember if I paid rent on my apartment last month, for all I know my landlord could have packed up my things and threw them on the streets. I might not have a place to live."

"Well, if that happened, you've got a place with me," he told her.

"Thanks, now go home," she replied smiling.

He nodded, but didn't go yet. Instead he asked, "Do you think you could be back for October 3rd?"

"Probably, why?"

"It's my birthday, and knowing my cousins, they're going to throw a surprise gathering of all my friends at the Boar's Nest," he explained, almost sounding as though he was not looking forward to it.

"I'll be there," she assured him, and then shooed him away, so he could go deal with an angry uncle.

Luke hurried down the ladder and over to the Charger, to be in the presence of what looked like a guilty Bo. Bo overheard some of their conversation, and was worried it had to do with money Ellie Beth lent them to get him out of jail.

Luke held back a sigh, and asked the question he knew he would probably regret. "What is it Bo?"

"She's leaving?" Bo clarified, staring down at his boots.

"Only for a little bit."

"Was it because of me, because of the money?" Bo asked not looking up from the ground.

Luke smiled at his younger cousin kindly. "Nah cus', she had to go back, and take care of some business she left there. She'll be back once she set everything in order."

"Okay, good," Bo said, half to himself. Then smiling at his cousin, he got the same carefree sparkle in his eyes that he was infamous for, and added, "Because I would hate to think I made the only girl who could stand spending the night with you, run away."

Laughing, they got in the car and made their way back to the farm.

_Now folks, Uncle Jesse might appear sweet and loveable, but underneath those overalls and red jumpsuit there is lies one mean old man when he is crossed, and today he sure is crossed_.

"I want to know what in tarnation do you think you were doing, not coming home for almost three days!" Uncle Jesse roared in the kitchen at a lonesome Luke. "There was no note, no phone call, not even a ring on the CB from ya. How hard is it to pick up a CB?"

Luke went to open his mouth, but Jesse cut him off, again. "First I come back from town around lunchtime to find none of your chores done, and you've gone off with some girl for the rest of the day. Then you don't come home that night because, you got 'stuck in the mud,' likely story. And the next day, when you finally do come home, the second you find out about Bo being arrested, you're off again. And once again you don't come home at night. Why because you were with this girl, right?"

Luke just nodded. Sighing, Jesse lowered his aging body into the chair across from Luke at stared at him for a couple seconds. Finally, Jesse asked the important question to Luke. "Have ya gone crazy, or are you in love?"

Luke grinned at his uncle, and right away Jesse knew which one. "What's the girl's name?"

"Elizabeth."

"How long you've been seeing her now?"

"Since that heat wave last April," Luke answered.

"And it's mid September now, so what's that, five months?" Luke nodded. "Then how come this is the first time you're talking about her? If she means so dang much to you, how come we never had her over for dinner?"

"She works odd hours," Luke defended weakly. Honestly, he just never wanted to share his time with her.

"What's her job?"

Luke gulped, and checked to make sure none of his cousins were eavesdropping. "Running moonshine."

"Oh Lord, please help my stupid nephew," Jesse muttered, before turning his anger back on Luke. "Moonshine? Is that kind of peoples you should be hanging around seeing how you're on probation for that?"

"It's not like that Uncle Jesse, she's got a debt to Boss Hogg to pay off," Luke clarified.

"And is that who she works for, JD?" He nodded, and Jesse groaned. "And why does she owe him money?"

"For the money she needed for a lawyer, when she got arrested for grand theft auto," Luke explained quietly, realizing this was not making Ellie Beth sound good at all.

"Luke, you know normally I don't like to pry into yer life, but this does not sound like the type of girl you should be seeing," Jesse warned. "I got a bad feeling about this, it sounds like nothing but trouble."

"Uncle Jesse I can handle any trouble she brings, but really she's not that bad, it just sounds worse than it is," Luke assured the older Duke.

"I don't know Luke, there's just something about this in my bones that tell me this is a bad idea," Jesse replied. "I think I want to meet her and hear her explain things. Is she coming to dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?"

"The thank you dinner for her lending us the money to bail Bo out," Jesse reminded him. "Please tell me Bo remembered to invite her."

"No, they did, but she's not feeling well. She's got a pretty nasty cough; I don't think she'll be up for dinner tonight," Luke informed him.

"Alright, some time soon than," Jesse said, nodding his head.

Luke glanced around for the time, and Jesse could tell his oldest child was getting antsy. Sigh Jesse ventured, "You want to know if you can be excused so you can go see Elizabeth, right?"

Luke nodded sheepishly.

"Alright, get," Jesse told him, and watched grinning as Luke raced out the door.

Luke hurried over to Cooter's garage, hopped out smiling, except that didn't last long. The first thing he noticed was that Ellie Beth's car was gone. Yelling out her name did not bring her to him; in fact the only answer he got was Cooter, coming in to see what the racket was.

"Cooter, where's Ellie Beth?"

"EB, well Boss came in here, not ten minutes after you left, screaming and yelling at poor Ellie, about being more careful and that she should leave Hazzard right away. Ellie Beth fought with him, trying to argue that she should wait a couple days before driving so things cool down and almost had him convinced, but then she started coughing, and Boss wasn't having none of it. He sent her back to Atlanta, to some doctor," Cooter explained.

"So she's gone already?"

"Yeah, sorry buddy. She put up a good fight, but in the end, what Boss Hogg says goes," Cooter reminded him. "But she told me to tell you she'd be back for October, no matter what."

"Much obliged Cooter," Luke replied and turned to leave.

"Hey Luke," Cooter called after him.

"Yeah?"

"For what my opinion means, and I know it's not much, but I sure hope you two work out."

Luke grinned at his friend, though he would never admit it that was something he needed to hear.


	6. The Big L

**A/N:** well here's another chapter. It's very fluffy and cutesy, but I don't know, I like it. I think I just need to do one fluff story to get it out of my system, so this story is it.  
_

* * *

By the time Ellie Beth came back to Hazzard, the leaves had all changed color, and most of them had fallen to the ground. And all of Hazzard was a sleep as she crept into the Duke's house, early in the morning of Luke's birthday_.

Luke felt something move on his bed. If he had still had such fast reflexes as he did in the marines, he would have bolted up, ready for attack. However, he had gotten a little slow, and he knew in Hazzard he was in no immediate danger, so instead he just opened his eyes and groaned.

"Happy birthday stranger," a very quiet voice greeted, followed by a kiss on the cheek.

"Ellie Beth?" he groaned and checked his empty wrist for the time. "What time is it?"

"Almost four," she answered, and gave him a quick kiss.

"What are you doing here?"

"I might be a little late tonight so I wanted to make sure I saw you on your birthday," she answered. "By the way, how old are you now?"

"What?" he asked, still in a sleepy daze.

"I have to hop down to Savannah, but I'll be back tonight, so I thought now would be the perfect time to stop by and say hi and happy birthday. Now, how old are you today?" she whispered.

"Twenty-eight," he answered through a yawn.

The sound of quick scribbling was heard, as she laughed softly at him and said, "Okay, go back to bed, get plenty of sleep birthday boy."

He nodded and put his head back down. He was back fast asleep before she had even left the room.

Waking up, Luke was confused. He was trying to figure out whether he had dreamed Ellie Beth's late night appearance or if she had actually trespassed into his bedroom. He glanced over to the nightstand and got his answer. Set on the nightstand was a birthday card that had been signed with a heart next to her name. Grinning at the card, he let out a small laugh when he saw the number twenty-nine had been crossed and replaced with a twenty-eight. He put the card back, smiling, feeling like it was going to be a good day.

_Almost all the folks in Hazzard were found at the Boar's Nest that night celebrate a local good ole boy's birthday. Folks, these are the best night to be in Hazzard_.

The crowded finished singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and everyone clapped as Daisy brought out the cake she made and Luke pretended to be surprise.

As he was cutting the cake, people were offering well wishes and patting him on the back. Jesse stood up and warned, "Well one of us better get a decent night's sleep, so I'm leaving. You better bring me home a piece of that cake."

"Will do sir," Luke agreed, grinning at his uncle.

Jesse nodded and then turned to his youngest nephew. "And Bo, try to control yourself, it's your cousin's birthday, let him get a little wild for a change."

Laughing, Bo agreed. As the older generation left the bar, leaving it all for the younger crowd, the tempo picked up the pace. The music grew louder, the drinking got rowdier and the dancing more risqué. Everyone was living, laughing, and for some, later that night they'd be loving. Luke however kept looking out towards the entrance, waiting for someone.

"Listen Luke, I know who you're looking for," Cooter began, "and if she hasn't shown up by now, she's probably not showing."

"I know that, but it doesn't hurt to keep looking," Luke replied, but he did manage to keep his gaze away from the door as he and Cooter began their conversation.

When Ellie Beth showed a few minutes later, they missed her entrance, but Enos, sitting by the end of the bar; sipping on his milk noticed her right away. Nervously, he went up to her, checking to make sure Rosco and Boss Hogg weren't out.

"Miss Ellie Beth, what are you doing here? I thought Boss Hogg gave you strict orders not to come back to Hazzard for at least a month," Enos reminded her.

"Oh relax," she replied, laughing. "No one has to know I'm here, right? I came for an important reason, doesn't that count for anything?"

"Oh really Miss Ellie, what's the reason?" Enos asked with his silly little grin.

"His birthday," she replied, grinning at Luke.

Enos looked over and spit out his milk. "Luke? You're here for Luke's birthday? Why?"

"How about I just go on over and show ya?" she challenged, and made her way over to Luke who had finally spotted her.

"Hey you."

"Hi strange, I hear it's your birthday," she greeted standing in front of their table.

"I guess that would explain the cake," he replied, and at this point both of them were smiling like idiots.

"I also hear you've got some world class dancing skills, mind if I check out your moves? Maybe I could even show you a move or two."

That was an offer too good for Luke to refuse. He allowed himself to be lead out on the dance floor, where she got a little closer than was acceptable, but he didn't mind. No he was all but happy to feel her body against his again, but soon people began to stare and the whispers grew louder, wondering who the girl dancing with Luke was. And then her name started to swirl around the nosy crowd, and people couldn't tear their eyes away from the couple.

Not that either one of them really noticed, or cared much. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Hey, you wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah, but Luke it's your birthday celebration, you should stay and hang out with your friends," she told him.

"I see them all the time, and we already celebrated. If we stay it's just gonna end like all my other birthdays, someone gets a little too drunk, picks a fight, and then we all get kicked out if not put in jail," he explained, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "Let's get out of here to have some real fun."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to end up getting arrested on your birthday, maybe we should slip out for an hour or two."

Grinning, they casually made their way out to the parking lot, unaware that the whole place was staring at them.

Her hand traced along Luke's chest and torso, just making mindless patterns and shapes. She pulled herself closer to him, he was so warm and it was much cooler this fall night than normal. And there was just something about his arms around her; something that made her feel like nothing was going to happen to her. And Luke loved feeling her against him, a constant reminder that was in fact real, and not a dream he often wondered if he just thought up one night.

She had a way to make everything feel surreal and dreamlike, something that was hard to do on such a grounded man like Luke Duke. Yet each time she was around, Luke would leave the trouble and cares of the real world behind, to escape to this realm of just the two of them, and for a few brief nights there would be nothing but peace. Except when they fought.

They rarely fought, but when they did it was one of them picking a fight, pushing the other away. Ellie Beth did it a lot when she had to tell Luke she was leaving for a long period of time, for some reason she found it easier to break the news to Luke as she screamed at him. And Luke would pick a fight when she got back, making her feel guilty for doing her job because he didn't wanted to say he missed her, and was worried. However, before any fight ever got too bad, it would be stopped by Ellie Beth, asking if he really wanted to fight about this now, sometimes even an apology, always followed by a kiss. And the kiss always brought back the peace.

Tonight was relaxing, feeling her against his body, a sheet sealing in their body heat to keep them warm, Luke never wanted to leave. But she was up, which meant something was on her mind.

"Hey you," he greeted with a smile, slowly waking up.

"Hi." She pulled away from him, saying, "It's getting late, we better get you back."

He glanced at his wrist again, though there was nothing there. "It's not that late, we can stay out longer."

"Oh really, well what time does your invisible watch say it is?" she teased, and then an idea struck her. "That's what I should get you for your birthday, a watch."

"I all ready have a watch," he told her.

"Well, why don't you ever wear it then? That way when I'm late you can yell at me and have the exact time I'm late by," she asked bring her body next to his.

"It was my dad's watch that my momma gave to him on their second anniversary, she got their initials carved in the back of it."

"So it's too special to wear?"

"No, I used to wear it all the time, but when I got shipped out, I meant to take it off and leave it in Hazzard, but I forgot and when I tried to ship it back home it got lost in the mail," Luke explained. "That was back when Boss Hogg ran the postal service in Hazzard and apparently a lot of valuable things went missing in the mail. I thought maybe he took it, but then right before the government requested Boss to step down as postmaster, everyone's valuables showed back up in the mail, except mine. So I guess that means it really did just get lost."

She was quiet for a moment and then in a low voice asked, "What did it look like?"

"It was just a watch, silver, big round face and leather straps. Only thing all too special about it was the engraving."

"Oh, I'm sorry you lost it," she told him, snuggling in closer to him. "Do you want to head back to your friends now?"

"Nah Ellie Beth, I got everything I wanted for my birthday right here, we don't need to go back." They were silent for a little while, their hands just mindlessly roaming each other's body when Luke asked, "Hey Ellie Beth, when's your birthday?"

Her hands stopped moving, and she became very still and quiet.

"Ellie Beth?" he asked again, nudging her.

"I don't have a birthday," she answered gravely.

He let out a laugh. "Sure you do, everyone does."

"No, I don't celebrate my birthday, I don't talk about my birthday and I don't even think about it," she replied completely serious and cold.

"Why?"

"I have a birthday curse."

He did not mean to, but he laughed a little. Angry, she pulled away from him and began searching for her clothes. Pulling the shirt over her head she started ranting heatedly, "You know you wouldn't be laughing if not even two days after you turned six your mamma just walked away for good without even saying bye. Or when a week before you turned thirteen the judge sentences your daddy to twelve to twenty-five years in jail that were to start on your actual birthday. Or then when you're a day sort of sixteen you get pneumonia and almost die."

She was going to carry on, but he stopped her, wrapping his arms around her and apologizing. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they locked your dad up on your birthday, or that your momma left so close to it. Something must have happened to make her leave."

Ellie Beth pulled away from him shrugging. "No, there's no good reason to abandoned your children. I was crying for three days, and didn't stop till my uncle talked with me. He told me it takes a strong woman to be in our family, and my mamma just wasn't strong enough, but I had to be strong. And I realized he was right, so go ahead and laugh, Luke, it's not the worst thing that's happened to me."

"Ellie Beth, I'm sorry." She just ignored him, and he called out to her again. "Elizabeth."

She stopped this time, and looked at him. "I'm sorry, okay? You're right, and I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about your birthday again, or your mother. Just don't leave please."

"Why? Why should I even stay?"

"Damn it, I don't know. How about because I want you to stay? Or that I hope you want to stay too? Or even because I love you?"

She whipped around, and went to him like had said a command word. Shock slowed Luke's response time, as he tried to figure out what to do next. Her arms had wrapped around his neck, and his lips were meet with rapid kisses. He kissed her back and soon her legs were wrapped around his hips, and their bodies were sinking down to the floor once again.

_Needless to say Luke had a very good birthday this year_.


	7. Watches and Snow

**A/N:** Now this chapter is all fluff, no doubt about, but it just made me smile so it goes into the story.  


* * *

The wind got crisper and the ground hard as the grass and crops shriveled up and went from green to a dull yellow and brown. It was wintertime, though in Hazzard the only sure fire way to tell about that is when the girls stop wearing those revealing shorts and slip into warmer jeans.

Yes it was wintertime, getting closer to Christmas and Luke was getting antsy again. Not because he was nervous about getting coal in his stocking this year, but because Ellie Beth had been in Hazzard for the last three weeks and so far he had only managed to catch glimpses of her around town. She had told him was doing a special job for Boss Hogg, but Luke couldn't figure out why she still couldn't sneak away at night to see him.

So Luke waited at the Daley's house, which had become their escape from reality, pacing the floor because Ellie Beth was late, once again. He wanted to know what was so important that kept her away, and what was so important to bring her back.

The sound of a car engine slipping into the dirt driveway and quickly being turned off reached Luke's ears. He had to hold himself back from going out there and demanding to know what she has been up to since that would only start a fight. Instead he leaned against the fireplace, and tried to put on a patient face as she came through the door.

She came bounding in, grinning as the sun was setting behind her.

"Hey stranger," she called, knowing that his patient look was just a façade. "I'm sorry I'm late again, things got a little tied up."

"Well I'm just glad you were able to slip away tonight so I could finally see you," he told, smiling a little despite his frustration.

She knew his smile was genuine, and that made her relax. He wasn't going to pick a fight tonight about her punctuality. Grinning back at him she brought up a bag she had been holding down by her side. "I got you something. I know it's still a few weeks away but I figured you've missed it long enough already."

Luke took the bag dumbfounded; they had agreed not to exchange gifts since money was tight on both ends. "Ellie Beth, you shouldn't have, I mean we agreed," he began.

She stopped him by placing her hand over his. "I know what I said, but this isn't a gift. It's more me returning something, that I wrapped nicely."

He still looked unsure, so she gave him an encouraging peck on the cheek, and urged, "Go on."

He reached in the bag and pulled out the blue tissue paper and then reached back in. His hand came in contact with a velvet box. His heart started to speed up as he pulled out the box and the slightest trace of a constant ticking could be heard. Just for a moment he all he could do was stare, and then quickly he flipped open the top without hesitation.

Staring back at him was a face. Perfectly round, a shining silver face with twelve numbers. His hands nearly trembled as he took the watch out of its soft holding place and turned it around to check the back. As soon as he saw the engraved initials on the back, his eyes watered and he ran his thumb over them to ensure they were real.

He gave her a small smile; it was all he could do because if he let his mouth open he would either let out a cry of joy or just cry.

It took a moment to compose himself, and even then she heard the lump in his throat. "How'd you…?"

"I remembered, a few years back, JD had a watch he wasn't able to sell because of the engravings, and I figured he still had it so I went looking for it," she explained as she placed the watch on his wrist. And then she softly added, looking down with a guilty face, "He should have never taken anything that special from you. I'm sorry."

He lifted her chin up, and smiled at her, silently letting her know everything was okay. He leaned closer to her and brought their lips together. And he was kissing her in a way he had never kissed anyone. It was tender, but heated, full of a force he never knew, a force that made it impossible to even think about how he'd be without her. The kiss made him realize something he had only speculated at, that he needed a life with her. He needed to see her, feel her everyday in order for anything to make sense.

As the kiss ended he looked down at her, she grinning and obviously happy. He smiled back, and for a moment there was a blissful silence between the two lovers.

"Elizabeth, I love you," he said never taking his eyes off hers. "I love you so much, I never want our time together to end, and every time you're not around I can't think straight. The only thing I ever think about is you, and I just want to be with you."

"Luke, I… I… I feel," she stammered, and then finally gave up and pressed her lips against his.

She said something else as their lips met. He couldn't completely make it out, but it sort of sound like an "I love you" or if anything it felt like one. Well, at least the way her lips were bruised up against his felt like love, and the sensation her hands traveling down his body indicated she loved him, and when she lifted up a leg and wrapped it around, pressing their hips closer, that screamed "I love you", or at least Luke hoped that all meant it.

Later as he was wearing nothing but his watch, he kept looking at it so much Ellie Beth was wondering if she should be jealous, when he turned to stare at her. At first she did not mind his wonderful deep blue eyes on her, but after a minute she became uneasy since it seemed like his eyes were trying to figure out a puzzle that was impossibly hard.

"What is it?" she asked, finally when she couldn't take anymore of his scrutiny.

"I'm trying to figure out what to get you," he confessed, "but I'm not sure."

"Oh God, don't bother Luke," she told him, groaning. "The things I want, you can't get me."

"But you do want something. What is it?"

"Nothing you can do about it," she told him.

"Try me," he challenged.

She sighed and opened her mouth, and for a brief second he thought she might say a house and some kids, and his heart jumped to his throat. Instead though she told him, "I want them to stop denying my daddy's parole."

"Oh," was all he replied because he really couldn't help with that. It would have been a whole lot easier if she had said house and kids. He would be willing to give that to her.

"There is one other thing I do want though," she told him, smiling at him.

"Yeah, what's that?" Her grin made him grin, and he was sure the house and kids were coming.

"Snow."

"What?" His face fell.

"Yeah, snow. I want to it to be snowing softly, with snow already covering the ground, and I want to be walking around in it, maybe even having a snowball fight," she replied dreamily. "I've always loved the snow, it's something I really miss from living up north."

"You're not making it any easier for me to get you what you want," he responded, brow scrunched, deep in thought.

"I'm sorry, but that's why I'm telling you, don't get me anything, okay?" He didn't respond, so she asked again. "You won't get me anything, alright?"

He nodded and looked at his watch again, still not believing she had found it. "Ellie Beth, how'd you get a hold of the watch anyways?"

"I've been cleaning JD's silver and his wife's jewelry for the past couple weeks, trying to find it again. It took me a little longer than I thought, but I eventually found it, stuffed away in a drawer," she answered simply.

"And what, you just took it?"

She shrugged and replied, "Yup and gave it to you. Well, I did clean it first and put a new battery in it."

"Won't he notice it's missing, are you gonna get in trouble?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry, I can handle any trouble from JD, and there won't be any, trust me."

"Alright, I guess I do," he told her with a grin, and pulled her into his arms again. They both lay there, slowly drifting off to sleep, and right before Luke shut his eyes, he whispered in her ear, "I love you."

The only answer he got back though was the sound of steady breathing.

_Christmas came and passed quite uneventfully for Hazzard, which is new. The two lovebirds stole a couple nights to be with each other, but family obligations kept them from spending the holidays together, and before long it was already the New Year and by that time Elizabeth finally had a full day to spend with Luke. And at which point Luke had figured out what to get her._

Luke had Daisy distract Elizabeth in the kitchen, while he packed up her car for their road trip to keep it a secret. In fact no one knew what his plans were today, and it was wise for him to keep it hush-hush since he planned on crossing state lines on probation.

* * *

He smiled amused, as worry and concern scrunched on Ellie Beth's face, when the county line came closer.

"Luke, you're about to leave Hazzard, shouldn't you be turning around?" she asked, eyeing the growing sign telling them what she just said.

"Nah," he replied nonchalantly. In fact he actually started speeding towards the line.

"What are you doing? You need to turn around, you're gonna break your probation. What ever you have planned, it's not worth that," she told, her nerves making her voice slightly higher.

"Oh believe me, it will be," he assured her, grinning. She still looked apprehensive so he asked, "Do you trust me?"

She looked down at the car floor and that made Luke nervous. "You do trust me, right?"

She glanced back at him and smiled. "Yes, I do and that's what makes it so hard to say."

He smiled back, and looked at the road again. His gaze slowly shifted back to her and he whispered, "Hey Ellie Beth?"

"Yeah Luke?" she whispered back, playing along.

"We're not in Hazzard anymore."

She glanced around, no they were not, and she hadn't even noticed. "You know what this means then, right?"

"No family member popping up, saying they need my help," Luke supplied, remembering the nights where their time had been quickly interrupted.

"No JD calling me, telling me I have a job to do," she replied, keeping in mind the same instances. "We might actually have some quality, no intrusions, alone time right now."

"Yes ma'm, I think you're right," he told her.

"So why are you still driving and not pulled over on the side of the road and in my backseat right now?"

He laughed, and answered, "'Cause I've got something better in mind for you."

"And what is that?"

"Just wait and see."

She sighed, but knew he would not tell her so she let the subject drop. Instead she just eyed him carefully, hoping he would give something away about their destination. He just grinned at her, and kept driving north. Leaning back in her seat, she did her best to relax despite the uneasy feeling she had about this.

Everything was going fine till they reached the state line. As the sign that read, "Welcome to Tennessee" came into view, Ellie Beth demanded, "Luke stop the car."

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, slowing down the car.

"Luke, that's the state line," she cried. "Crossing county borders is one thing, but this is the state line! Whatever you have planned, stop, right now, I don't want any part in sending you up the river."

He let out a small gruff laugh, and assured her, "Ellie Beth, where we're going it's not gonna matter. No one is going to be around to see, and no one is going to be looking for me in a blue car."

She sighed, knowing he was probably right. "Fine, but I still don't like it."

"Elizabeth?" She looked up at him, and he could not help but keep the smile off his face. "I love you, nothing's going to happen to me, promise. I don't plan on leaving you anytime soon, no matter what happens."

She grinned back at him, and at the moment was undeniably happy. "I still don't see what is so important to risk all this though."

Luke grinned since they were almost there. "In a few moments you will."

Her gaze turned to him, trying to figure out what he meant. She wanted to know to know where they were going, but at the moment she did not care. They were together, and wherever they ended up they would be together. The thought made her smile. She had yet to tell him she loved him, but she did. It was just the words that were hard to say, she could show him, and she hoped she showed him her love, but the words would just get caught whenever she tried.

The car stopped and Luke turned to grin at her. "From here, we walk," he explained.

"Why?"

"Look," he told her, and pointed out the window.

Her gaze shifted from the man she loved to the window, and she stopped cold at what she saw, white flakes twirling gracefully down to the ground from a sky filled with white. Each flake, purely white, brought joy to Ellie Beth. She knew she was being silly for getting so excited for frozen water, but she could not help herself.

"You found snow?" she asked, smiling at him in a way she never did before. It was the smile that made Luke know for sure she loved him, even if she didn't say it.

He had driven them up in Tennessee to a section of the Appalachian Mountains he heard was going to get snowfall. It was worth it, just to see her get so excited; she was even glowing.

She was out of the car before Luke could even attempt to stop her. Her focus was on the snow, not the cold that was slowly starting at her fingertips. Luke had foreseen this, and was pulling out a pair of gloves, a jacket and a hat for her.

He plopped the hat down on her head, grinning at her, handing over the jacket and gloves. She smiled at him, and kissed him gingerly. Hurriedly, she threw on her jacket, and grabbed Luke's hand before he even had on arm through his jacket. "Come on, I want to go further."

So they went further up the mountain, where the snow was sticking to the ground and. They walked hand in hand, until there was snow on the ground, at that point Ellie Beth darted away from him, scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Luke. Laughing, he threw a handful right back at her. They ran around for a little while, throwing snow, and smashing it on each other heads.

Laughing, and trying to turn sharply, Ellie Beth slipped and fell down. Luke, chasing her closely, slipped on the same ice, landing next to her. She looked over at him, wincing in pain, and started laughing again. He couldn't help but smile, and start laughing with her.

The laughter fade away, and she gave a contented sigh, and looked up the grey sky, with white whirling down to her.

Luke watched her; loving the peaceful and happy smile she had on her face, knowing he was the reason for it. The snow wafted down, landing softly on both their bodies, but the flakes that caught his eyes were the ones landing on her face, caressing her lips, getting entangled in her eyelashes.

Her arm and legs began moving, in repeated motions. Suddenly she stopped and sat up, careful not to disturb her imprint she just made.

Standing, he noticed that she kept glancing around and asked, "Something wrong?"

"I'm just trying to figure out how to get up without ruining my snow angel," she answered him, still trying to figure it out.

"I think I can help with that," he told her. Bending down, mindful the wings, he scooped her up in his arms and lifted. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she couldn't help but smile as a vision of him in a tuxedo and her in a white dress flashed across her eyes. Looking down at the imprint of the snow he stated, "There, it's perfect."

She glanced down quickly and then leaned her head against his chest and sighed. "Yes, it is. Luke, I, I," she paused, still struggling to say the right words with him. "Thank you for this. I l-love, it."

"I know," he told her, and kissed her softly. "Come on, let's get into the heat before one of us catches a cold."

She nodded and he put her down gently. Taking her hand, he led her back to the car. By the time they reach the car, Luke's thighs were burning from the cold. Even though he was uncomfortable, she was smiling and seemed perfectly content. The heat was blasting the entire ride back, and it wasn't until they were back in Georgia that Luke's legs thawed.

As soon as they got in range of Hazzard, Ellie Beth turned off the CB radio, smirking at him. "I say let's not give family the chance to ruin today."

"All right babe," he replied, laughing to himself.

They enjoyed the uninterrupted silence their trip back to the farm. Pulling up to the farm, Bo and Daisy rushed out, and the two lovers knew their day was over.

"Hey cousins, what's going on?" Luke asked, getting out of the car, followed by Ellie.

"Luke, Rosco's been here all day, demanding to know where you are," Daisy told him.

"He said you crossed the county line, and is gonna arrest you!" Bo finished. "Where were you cuz?"

"I was out," Luke answered.

"Well you're gonna have to do better then that if Rosco gets a hold of you, sugar," Daisy warned.

"Luke, Rosco can't know I was with you," Ellie Beth whispered.

"It's okay, it's just Rosco, I can fool him," he reassured her with a smile.

"Luke!" Bo cried, getting back his cousin's attention. "Did you cross county lines?"

"You know better than to ask me that," he replied in a low voice.

"Luke!" Daisy exclaimed, her voice hurt.

"How could you do that Luke? Risky _our_ probation! For what?" Bo demanded to know, his voice was full of betrayal.

"None of your business Bo," Luke shot back.

"Yes it is!" Bo yelled, stepping down off the stairs, going up to Luke. He towered over the older family member, but that did not bother Luke. "We're both on probation, whatever the other one does, effects both of us! And you've been the one telling me not to do something stupid all these years, and you're the one to cross the county line. You know what that makes you?"

"What Bo, what does it make me?" Luke questioned, closing the distance between them, flexing his hands.

"Uh boys, we have company," Ellie Beth told them, ducking down behind the car.

They both looked and saw two cop cars speeding towards the farm.

"Great," Luke mumbled, taking a deep breath.

"Why is she doing that?" Bo asked, glancing at the hidden Ellie Beth.

"Don't worry about it," Luke replied curtly.

Bo went to respond when Rosco's giggle cut across the front yard. "I love it, I love it."

"Uh, hello Rosco, what can I do for you?" Luke greeted.

"Shame, shame, everybody knows your name Luke. Ah know you've crossed county lines, that's in violation of your probation, Ah'm gonna have to take you in," Rosco answered.

"I've been in Hazzard all day," Luke corrected him.

"No you haven't." Rosco was giddy, he was almost skipping as we walked around the blue car, and tapped on the hood. As he walked around, Ellie Beth scuffled around to the other side.

"How do you know?"

"Ah put out an ATC." Rosco frowned, he knew that wasn't right. "EPG? ETB?"

"APB," Luke corrected.

"Right, APB, on this vehicle, ever since you got away from me a few months ago."

"Which time?" Bo muttered with a grin.

"Hush your mouth Bo, or Ah'll cuff ya and stuff ya too," Rosco warned before turning back to Luke. "Anyways, a sheriff from Gwinnett County called and said he saw this vehicle, with a white Caucasian male, matching your description, in his county. Now that where you doing all the way up there?"

"Rosco, I wasn't there."

"Well that's up for Boss Hogg to decide," Rosco explained, and pulled the handcuffs out.

"Hey now, I thought it was innocent till proven guilty, not the other way around," Luke defended.

"Well, you weren't here all day, but the General was, and you weren't off with Jesse, and this vehicle was seen in another county, so Ah'd say that's enough to send you up the river. Unless of course you could prove you were in Hazzard, but you can't, ah checked. So, assume the position."

"He was with me all day, in Hazzard," Ellie Beth said, standing up from behind the car.

"What?" Rosco asked, turning to see who had spoken. His jaw dropped when he saw her. "Ellie Beth!"

She looked down and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"Um, Luke and I just got back from spending today together, in Hazzard," she answered, eyes on the ground.

"Wait, you, and Luke?" She nodded. He huffed and puffed, trying to take in this information. Finally he marched up to her, grabbed her arm and ordered, "Get in the car."

"What?" she exclaimed as he dragged her to the car.

"Rosco let her go," Luke yelled at him, chasing after them.

He pushed her into the back of his patrol car and stood between Luke and the car. "Step away from the vehicle, Luke."

"No, you have no right to take her."

He reached for the door handle to release her, and Rosco pulled out his gun. "Luke, if you don't let go of that handle, Ah'll have to shoot you."

Luke took a step back, and stared at Rosco with disbelief. Rosco nodded, put his gun away and then drove off with a distraught looking Ellie Beth.

The police car was silent as it drove slowly down the country roads of Hazzard. Without a word, he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped his car. Ellie Beth's eyes never left the backseats floor during the ride and still did not as she asked, "Are you ever going to say anything?"

"Ah, Ah'm just trying to understand how, you and him…" Rosco trailed off, and put his head on the steering wheel.

"I know, are you upset?" she asked, and climbed up to the front. "I mean with me?"

Rosco sighed, looking at her face. "No. Ah'm just worried, that boy is trouble, his whole family is. And with you being a-"

"I know, I know," she cried, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I haven't told him yet. He's gonna leave if he knows, leave like everyone else. I love him, and if I tell him that, he is definitely going to leave, everyone does."

"No, he won't, he's not like that," Rosco reassured her, taking her in his arms. After a moment of listening to her quiet sobs, he clarified, "You love him?"

She nodded, unable to say it again at the moment. He smiled at her, and wiped away a tear. "Alright, let's go."

"Where?" she asked, blinking away her remaining tears.

The car slowed on the gravel of the driveway, and two of the residents of the home came out to greet the car. Bo glanced over his shoulder and called, "Luke, Rosco's back."

Luke stormed out of the house, appearing ready to fight the older officer. He stared at the car; waiting for the door to open, ready to yell.

Instead, the car door opened and Ellie Beth stepped out, smiling. Luke smiled back, and any anger he had left.

The next thing they knew, they were in each other's arms, and the rest of the world disappeared again.


	8. A Work Day

**A/N:** I'm updating now because I have a major project that I am starting tomorrow, and this weekend is just going to be crazy for me so now's the only time. Enjoy, and Monday's update might be late, but I'll try.  
_

* * *

As the winter freeze melted away, Luke determined it was time Ellie Beth met his family, in a more formal way, like a family dinner. So he rounded up the family, begged Bo to be on his best behavior and they two of them were traveling back from picking up the ingredients for dinner. Sound simple, doesn't it?  
_

"Do you think Jesse will be back from Farmer Johnson in time for dinner?" Luke asked, watching the scenery pass by.

"Oh, Uncle Jesse is the only one pushing this dinner more than you, he won't miss it," Bo answered. "He might be late, but he will be there."

Luke nodded, but still appeared uneasy. Bo grinned, his carefree grin, knowing a way to amusing his solemn cousin. "But, I know a shortcut we can take."

Luke shook his head with a laugh, as Bo diverted the car off road. He went over a couple bumps, did a couple donuts, and made the engine roar as it raced towards a creek.

"Think we can make it?" Bo asked, glancing over to Luke.

"Do it," Luke dared, knowing full well they could make it.

The orange car soon soared through the air, landing on the other side, only to find that a couple of cars were parked on the other side. Bo had to do some fast maneuvering to make sure the General did not crash into them. As soon as the car stopped, Bo and Luke popped out of the windows.

"Are you folks okay?" Luke asked, going up to the group of four me, huddled between the cars.

They just stared coldly at the two cousins, and Luke could already feel the trouble brewing.

"We weren't expecting anyone to be out here by Willow's Creek," Bo told them. "I mean no one is ever out here. So why are you folks out here?"

They huddled together, whispering quickly before one, the biggest one, stepped forward and put his hand on his hips. "We don't really take kindly to a lot of questions. We're doing our business, go do yours."

Luke noticed the metal handle sticking out from behind the man's jacket. Luke nodded and grabbed Bo's shoulder. "You're right, we'll get going and leave you all be."

"Now, hold on a second, this here is Doberman's land, and if you don't have his permission to be here, then you need to leave," Bo ordered, standing up straight.

"Bo, forget it," Luke warned, but a little too late.

"I think this gives me all the permission I need," the man told him, pulling out the gun.

"Yup, I'd say that does," Bo agreed, backing away with his hands up. "Well, we'll just be going now."

"Not so fast Goldie Locks. You asked too many questions, now you get to learn the ugly truth."

"Come on, mister, we don't want to cause any trouble," Luke explained. "We can just leave you all be."

Another man stepped forward and in a hushed voice, said, "Come on Vin, let them leave. They can't do anything, they're just a couple of yokels."

Luke sent Bo a warning glare so he didn't say anything about being called a "yokel". Bo heeded, and remained silent.

"I don't think we can do that Frank," Vin answered. "You are the Duke boys aren't ya? We were warned about you two. Can't let them go."

"Now fellas, we don't want any trouble. Y'all work for Boss Hogg, so that means you won't get any trouble with the law, so don't cause any, you understand?" Luke tried to reason them.

Vin just seemed to grin, amused at the country boy. "Trouble? You mean trouble like this ploy boy?"

Vin's fist flew through the air, and landed in Bo's stomach. The sound of air escaping from Bo's lips broke the silence, and then his body fell to the ground. In a second Luke was tackling Vin, throwing punches. Vin began retaliating, gaining the upper hand. On top of Luke, Vin hit Luke over and over, till he stopped fighting back. Vin would have kept going, but two of the guys forced him off of Luke.

Standing, and stretching, Vin wiped the blood off his the corner of his mouth and muttered, "The hick made me bleed."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have started a fight," Frank shot back, aiming a gun at Bo, so he wouldn't jump in the fight.

"He shouldn't be mouthing off to me," Vin retorted.

"So what do you want to do now? Do you want to stay and baby-sit them?" Frank questioned.

"Shoot them."

"No, call Hogg," Frank replied sternly, but then had to put the gun to Bo's head as he made a move. "Where you think you're going?"

"I wanna check my cousin and make sure he's okay," Bo told him, wincing at the gun.

"Go ahead," Frank told him, and turned to Vin. "Call EB, now!"

Vin sighed, picked up the CB, and made the call.

The car door shut angrily, and a voiced yelled out, "This better be important!"

Ellie Beth stormed down to the group of men, trying to slip on her high heel as she walked. She missed the two men on the ground as she bent down to buckle her shoes in place. She was dressed nicely, a flowing dress, her hair pinned back neatly, and high heels to complete the outfit.

"EB, look at you," Frank whistled. "What's the occasion?"

"A date, and you guys are interrupting my prepping time," she answered, finally glancing up to figure out the situation, only to have a pair of icy blue eyes glaring back at her with shock and anger. Her face dropped as she saw Luke lying on the ground, lifeless.

"Is he okay?" she whispered, walking over to him and Bo. She dropped down, to check on him, ignoring Bo's angry stare.

"Fine, probably learned not to talk back," Vin muttered.

She jumped up, and marched up to him. "You, you did this? Why? What is wrong with you?"

"He was mouthing off."

"So you beat him unconscious?" Vin just nodded with a smug grin, so Ellie Beth socked him.

"EB, what is wrong with you?" Frank cried.

"What? I didn't like his attitude and I thought we really didn't need a reason to beat someone up," she replied. "And where are you Frank, you just let him do this?"

"What was I supposed to do, tackle Vin? Listen, it is what it is, now what should we do with them?"

"Shoot them," Vin offered.

"No, you know Boss's rules, no killing," she told him. "I'll just take them to Boss. He'll figure out something to frame them with."

"Oh, so you can take all the credit?" Vin accused. "No, if you take them to Boss, one of us will have to go with you."

"Don't you have a job to do? Do your job, you'll get the credit," she replied.

"How do we know we will?"

"You don't trust me?"

"Why should I trust someone the likes of you?"

"All right then, come with me," she offered, smiling sweetly at him.

"I will," he replied.

"Good, keep working while I get the boys into my car," she ordered. She watched him go back to his car, and then went over to Bo and whispered, "Stay calm, okay, I'm going to get you and Luke out of here."

"You work for Boss Hogg?" Bo hissed.

"Yes, but I'm going to get you guys out of here, just go with my plan," she explained.

"How?"

"All right Blondie, you grab his legs and I've got his head," she ordered, loud enough to throw off the suspicions other henchmen. Once they picked up the body, she whispered, "All you need to do is make a grab for the wheel when I give the signal."

"What's the signal?"

"I don't know, the word 'banana'," she told him, flustered as the moved his body in the back seat.

"Banana?" he repeated.

"What do you want it to be, 'Bo, grab the wheel'?" she snapped, as she stroked Luke's head.

"No, banana is fine," Bo muttered.

"And after you make a grab, brace yourself and Luke," she warned. "And you might want to stay on the driver's side."

"Why?"

"Just do it," she replied, and climbed up to the driver's seat. Picking up the CB microphone, she called out, "Calling Crazy Cooter, come in Cooter. It's EB."

"Crazy Cooter here, what can I do for ya Ellie?"

"Can you meet me at Clinton's Crossing in twenty minutes?" she asked.

"Will do."

"Thanks, over and out," she told him.

"What are you planning?" he asked.

She didn't answer him, and popped out of her car, calling, "Vin, hurry it up. Let's go."

She sat back down, and took a deep breath. Vin slid inside, grinning at her. He glanced into the back, and waved his gun at Bo. "Don't try anything, got it?"

He nodded and Ellie Beth started the car. The ride started out quiet, Bo did not want to risk saying anything that would give away that he knew her. However, Vin had a big mouth too.

"So, how serious are you with this boy? The one you're all dressed up for," Vin asked, eyeing her over.

"None of your business," she retorted.

"It's just you never really mention him."

"He's not part of my work life, and I like it that way."

"But how serious are you though because you look pretty sexy when you're angry," he told her, his hand touching her knee.

"Don't touch me Vin," she replied, pulling her knee away.

"Oh don't be so prissy, we could just have some fun," he told her.

"I'm gonna hurt you," she warned.

"Pull over, maybe I'll like it," he replied, reaching out to touch her again.

"Stop it," she cried, slapping his hand away.

"Nah, I like I little fight," he told her, pursuing her.

"Stop!" she yelped as a hand grabbed her thigh. "Damn it, banana!"

Bo reached out and grabbed the wheel, giving the wheel a tug before letting go and bracing himself while protecting Luke. The next thing he felt was the car going off road, then a sudden lurch to a stop accompanied by the crunching, crashing sound. He checked Luke quickly to make sure he was still okay, and once reassured, he looked up.

Vin's head was against the dashboard while Ellie Beth's was resting against the steering wheel as her eyes flickered open.

"Vin, you still awake?" she questioned.

"Yeah, where's my gun?" he replied, trying to lift up his head.

It had flown through the air and landed on Ellie Beth's side, so she picked it up, and smacked him across the head with the butt. His head fell back down to the dashboard, and was finally quiet.

"Bo, you and Luke okay?" she asked, trying to get up.

"Fine, what happened?" Bo responded.

"You grabbed the wheel, forced us to crash, Vin and I were both knocked unconscious, and you escaped with Luke. At least, that's the story Boss Hogg is going to hear. Now come on, Cooter should be here soon," she explained, opening up her door.

Together, Bo and Ellie Beth got Luke safely out of the car, and laid him down softly. She wanted to sit down next to him, when Bo grabbed her arm, forcing her to pay attention to him. "You work for Boss Hogg!" Bo screeched.

She winced and tried to focus on the angry man in front of her. "Yes, okay?"

"No it's not okay," Bo replied. "Boss Hogg is a no good scoundrel, who constantly trying to attest me and Luke and send us to jail."

"Don't talk about JD that way," she cried and made a move to hit him, but the head injury kept her from making contact. Instead, she swung aimlessly and staggered, needing to grab on to the car for support.

"I can't believe this!" Bo snapped and hit the car forcefully.

Her head was pounding, and all she wanted was the world to stop. Dropping to the ground, trying to make sense of what was going on, she looked over at Luke and that was all she could focus on, besides the pain. Crawling over to him, she tapped his shoulder, pleading, "Come on Luke, wake up."

He still did not respond, so she laid her head on his chest, just wanting to close her eyes and sleep. It was just for a moment that she closed her eyes, but the next thing she knew Cooter's truck engine shut off and the door opened.

"What happened?" Cooter asked, whistling at the wrecked car and the sleeping couple. He stopped though once he saw the blood gathering at Ellie Beth's hairline. "You're bleeding, EB, we should get you to the doc."

"No, get Luke, he needs to see Doctor Applebee," she replied. "Take him and Bo into town, and get him help."

"Maybe you should come with us, that doesn't look too good," Cooter stated.

"No, take care of them first, please Cooter," she replied, pleading with him.

"All right, but I'm gonna come back for you faster than a duck on a piece of bread," Cooter assured her.

She smiled her thanks, and sat against her car. She was barely aware of Cooter and Bo lifting Luke into the car, and leaving but once they were gone her body slumped to the side as her eyes dropped shut.

* * *

There was a terrible smell, and then a bright light as Luke regained his consciousness. He groaned and blinked a few times, his head throbbing painfully.

"Sugar, you okay?" a familiar, warm voice asked.

Luke forced his eyes to focus to find his two cousins standing around him. "Yeah, fine. Bo, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Bo answered in an unusually solemn voice.

"What happen, how'd we get here?" he questioned, the pain died down from a throbbing to a dull ache.

"Cooter brought us in," Bo replied.

"But how did Cooter get us and where's the General?"

"Oh Cooter and I took care of that," Daisy assured him. "He distracted those fellas while I snuck by and snagged the General back."

"All right, but what happened?" he repeated, fidgeting from agitation.

"Luke, I think you should just take it easy, and rest till you're feeling better," Bo responded.

"I'm fine, just tell me already," Luke snapped, trying to get up.

"Easy Luke, don't exhort yourself," Doctor Applebee ordered, guiding Luke to lie back down. "You should take it easy for the next couple of days, and tonight don't fall asleep from more than a couple hours at a time. But call me if your head feels worse or if there's any sudden mood swings."

"Much obliged, Doc," Luke responded with a nod. "So can I get going now?"

"Yes, but come back tomorrow so I can check up on you," Doctor Applebee told him.

"Will do," Luke agreed as Boss Hogg busted through the office's door, hysterical.

"Doctor Applebee, come quick, she's bleeding and dying!" Boss Hogg cried, grabbing the medical man's arm.

"Calm down JD. Who's hurt?" Applebee asked.

"She's dying and you're just standing there," Boss snapped, dragging Applebee towards the door. "It's my niece, she's sick again."

"All right, let's go," the doctor told him, before turning to Luke and stating, "I'll see you back here on Wednesday at two."

Without a glance back the two older gentleman left, leaving the younger Dukes to stare wordlessly after them. Daisy eventually spoke everyone's thought. "Boss Hogg has a niece?"

Luke let out a chuckle, surprising Bo. "What?" Bo asked.

"Oh, I'm just picturing that she looks like Boss Hogg in a wig." It started with just a small smile, but soon imaging Boss Hogg in a wig, they all were laughing uncontrollably.


	9. Meeting the Family

Bo sat on his front porch, gravely quiet. Staring out at the landscape, he wondered what to do. Normally Luke wasn't falling for a girl who was nothing but trouble. Normally Bo wouldn't have to be the voice of reason, and at the moment Bo was speechless.

"Honey, what's wrong? You've barely said anything since we brought Luke home," Daisy commented, sitting down next to her baby cousin.

"I just don't know what to tell Luke," he confessed. "He keeps asking what happened, and I just don't know how to tell him."

"Well tell me what happened and we'll figured it out together," she offered.

"Daisy, we only escaped because one of Boss Hogg's men let us go."

"What's so wrong with that?"

"It was Ellie Beth."

"What?"

"She works for Boss Hogg Daisy, and I don't know how to tell Luke."

"Are you sure he doesn't know?"

Bo shook his head. "Luke would never be with someone who works for Boss Hogg. He's too level headed for that."

She sighed. "Luke's crazy about her, it's gonna break his heart."

"I know."

They sat silently, both imagining the worst of Luke's temper, when a police car rolled into their dirt driveway. Bo stood quickly and bonded down the stairs, feeling a sudden urge to protect his home.

Ellie Beth stepped out of the squad car, and looked a little worse for the wear. Her dress was dirty, blood stained it, and her face just looked tired.

"Hi Bo, how you feeling?" she greeted sheepishly.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here," Bo started.

"So I guess the dinner's off, huh?" she mumbled.

"Damn right it is. I don't know what kind of con you're trying to pull on my cousin, but stop it. I want you to leave and not come back."

"Bo, I'm not trying to con anyone. I care about Luke, that's why I'm here, I want to see how's he doing," Ellie Beth defended.

"Then why don't you tell him what you do?" Bo suggested, and headed towards the house. "I'll go get him right now and you can explain all about it."

"Bo please," Ellie Beth began, but stopped when she saw Luke at the screen door.

"I thought I heard yelling," Luke explained and then smiled at Ellie Beth.

"Luke, you're okay," she cried and ran up to him. Throwing her arms around him, she buried her face in his chest, feeling reassured by feeling his once again sturdy body against hers.

"I'm fine" he assured her, enclosing her in his arms too. He glanced at his two cousins. "You didn't have to go and tell her I got hurt, I'm fine."

"We didn't have to tell her," Bo mumbled as Daisy approached the couple.

"Luke, sugah, maybe you should go lay down," she suggested, placing a hand on his shoulder, trying to guide him away from her.

"I'm fine," he stated, shrugging off the hand.

"Ellie Beth was just leaving anyways," Bo explained, grabbing a hold of Ellie Beth's shoulders and ripping her away from Luke.

"Bo, what do you think you're doing?" Luke roared as Bo pushed her toward the patrol car. He went to hold Ellie Beth again, but Bo blocked him.

"She isn't welcomed here, she needs to leave," Bo stated firmly.

"Bo, what is you're problem?" Luke snapped, pushing Bo.

"She works for Boss Hogg," Bo yelled back. "She is probably his spy, reporting back to him about everything we do. It's just another scheme and you're falling for it!"

"No it's not! I know how JD would react if he found out I was dating anyone, so he doesn't know about Luke," Ellie Beth defended. "I don't want him to get hurt."

"See, she doesn't even deny working for Boss Hogg," Bo pointed out.

"You're talking a lot about something you know little," Luke warned, flexing his hands.

"I was there Luke, she works for Boss Hogg. Those guys knew her, they called her EB and she was ordering _them_ around. She was going to take us to Boss Hogg."

Luke sat down; his head pounding again from the information Bo had just given him. "Can someone just explain what happened?"

Suddenly they swarmed around him, shooting question about his well being at him, only making his head worse. Ellie Beth pushed her way through the blood relatives, and he smiled at her as he sat next to him. "Hey you."

"Hi stranger, you doing okay? Do we need to get the doctor?" she asked softly, stroking his head.

He shook his head, and repeated, in a kinder tone, "I'm fine, just please tell me what happened."

Glancing up at the other Duke, she asked, "Where do you want to start Bo?"

"How about the part where that psycho wanted to shoot me and Luke?"

"I'm sorry about that, Vin was out of line. I'm going to make sure nothing like that happens again," she told him.

"How? What exactly do you do for Boss Hogg?" Bo questioned.

She glanced between Bo and Luke, trying to figure out what would be the best answer. Everything in her was guiding her to tell Luke the truth, but lie to Bo. However, she had to pick one option, and she wasn't concerned with what Bo thought of her. "I do everything. Drive the car, talk the con, and finish the job. My main job though is to manage the jobs, and make sure the jobs get done. So I get called whenever there's a snag, like you two were a snag today."

"So basically you're like a mini Boss Hogg," Bo sneered.

"No, I am not like JD. I'm a completely different person," she snapped at him.

"Elizabeth, it's okay," Luke assured her, rubbing her back.

"No it's not. Luke, didn't you just hear her, she works for HOGG!" Bo shouted at him.

"I heard Bo," Luke roared and then winced from the flash of pain located in his head. "Just finish telling me what happened!"

"Fine, they called EB, to come take care of us. She showed up and came up with the plan to take us to Boss Hogg," Bo started.

"I wasn't really going to take you to JD, I just wanted to get you and Luke out of there and back into town," Ellie Beth interjected.

"Alright, what happened after that?" Luke asked, sighing.

"That psycho-"

"Vin."

Bo glared at her. "That psycho said he didn't trust her to go to Boss Hogg alone, so he was going to have to come with her. And when we were driving she had me grab the wheel so she could crash the car."

Bo stopped there, and looked at Ellie Beth. She had crashed her own car, just to give him and Luke a chance of escape. In fact, she had even arranged for Cooter to be there to give them a ride to the doctor. Bo glanced down guilty, suddenly aware of what Ellie Beth really did for them.

"You crashed your car? Are you okay?" Luke asked, frantically checking her over for injury. It was then he noticed the three stitches, hidden by her hairline but still there. His hand traced the cut, but she did not noticed, she was lost in her own world.

"I crashed Davis," she whispered, snapping out of her trance. She glanced at Luke and repeated, "I crashed Davis, and I don't know what happened to her."

"Ellie Beth, it's okay," he told her, stroking her hair. "It's alright, you're safe."

Standing, she moved away from his grasp towards the police car. He stood after her and called, "Elizabeth, wait."

Quickly she turned back to him, and gave him a quick kiss. "Stay with your family, feel better. I'll be back, eventually."

"Elizabeth," he tried again, but she was already walking away.

"Enos," she called, and the deputy sheriff poked his head out of the driver's window. "I need to get to Cooter's, now."

"But, uh, Miss Ellie Beth, Boss Hogg said to bring you back to the house, we shouldn't even be here," Enos reminded her.

"It's fine, I'll deal with him," she told him, as she slid into the passenger seat.

"But Miss Ellie Beth, he was pretty adamant about bringing you straight to his house," Enos tried again.

"Enos, if you don't take me to Cooter's right now, I swear I will get out of this car and walk there myself," she snapped at him.

"You heard the woman Enos, get," Luke stated, slipping into the backseat.

They both turned and surprised at what they saw. Luke grinned at Ellie Beth, and she smiled back, never taking her eyes off of him, even when Enos said, "Alright, but I'm warning you two now, nothing but trouble is gonna come from this."

_Little did those two know that Enos was right, keeping Ellie Beth away from Boss Hogg would not end well._

The squad car rolled to a stop and Ellie Beth burst out, barely giving Luke time to catch up. She ran in the garage, he was on her heels the whole time, and they were greeted by a grim looking Cooter.

"EB, I know how much that car means to you, but it's just a car, the important thing is you're okay," Cooter reminded her.

She looked at him, meet his eyes and stated, "She's totaled."

"I haven't looked her over completely yet, so it's too early to tell," Cooter started, but Ellie Beth was looking past him already, at the crumpled remains of her car.

She walked around him, and stepped lightly towards her motionless vehicle. Her passenger side was crushed in, headlight gone, probably left on the side of the road to mark the crash, and the body frame was twisted underneath itself. The engine was hidden but she didn't want to see it.

Luke came up behind her, in time to catch her as she dropped. Her knees had given out and she was fighting his grip, struggling to get away.

"No, no, no, no, no," she cried, and finally gave in to his strong hold.

His grasp around her, tightened and he brought her closer to him. "It's okay, it's gonna be alright. Everything is going to be okay."

"I had her since I was fourteen, fourteen! I can't believe I crashed her. I totaled her! She was the only thing I had, the only thing I could count on," she sobbed into his chest.

"Shh it's okay, it's okay," he repeated, kissing the top of her head. "You've got me. I'll be here for you. You can count on me."

He felt her body press closer to his and the sobs died off quickly. Reassured by this he added, "And you know, maybe there is something Cooter or I could do to fix her up. She might be able to be fixed up."

She laughed; it was hollow and echoed with her fallen tears. "Luke, it's about four weeks till my birthday. She's dead and gone. I'll be surprised if you survive the birthday curse too."

"Nothing's gonna scare me away Elizabeth, not any old 'birthday curse'," he replied with smile.

"You don't know the power of my birthday curse," she stated glumly, looking over at her car.

Sighing, he stood up and brought Ellie Beth up with him. "Come here, we're going to sit down."

Grumbling, Ellie Beth allowed herself to be guided to a pile of tires, where they collapsed together. There they were in each other's embrace, but their view of the crumpled car was blocked by Cooter's truck. There he finally got Ellie Beth calm down and collected by changing the subject.

"You, you never did really explain why you got arrested," Like told her, his hand tracing up and down her arm.

"I stole a car," she replied.

"I know that. I meant why did you steal the car? Your reasoning."

"I don't know it was over a year ago," she stated.

"It must have been because we've known each other for about a year now," he told her.

"We have, haven't we?" He could hear the smile in her voice. "Well, I stole the car because my daddy got denied parole, again. I was angry and upset because I thought this year, since he already served ten years, they would give him early release. His sentence was only eight to fifteen years, so it only seems fair but they keep denying hoping he is going to roll on JD. He won't, so he's stuck there and it's not fair.

"Anyways, I was with my brother and didn't have a car, and after the news all I wanted to was drive down to see our uncle, and my brother wouldn't take me. So, I found a car, hotwired it, and started driving. I didn't stop till I was halfway through North Carolina and a cop was trying to pull me over for speeding. I remember thinking, as I saw the lights chasing after me that if I pulled over now, and let him arrest me it would all be over. And I just wanted it all to be over, so I stopped, got arrested, use my one phone call to tell my brother that I was okay, but in jail. And he called our uncle who got a lawyer and probably paid some people off to get me out.

"I was just sitting in my cell, when all of a sudden my uncle was there, the police were releasing me and I was over nine thousand dollars in debt. Together, my uncle and I figured it out, and I came down here to work it off. And then after a few weeks of working, I went to the Boar's Nest on my night off to get drunk and have some fun. And I ended up with you."

He chuckled at her sarcastic, playful tone and she rolled over to face him, grinning. He smiled back at her and she softly touched his face, asking sweetly, "How do you do that?"

"What?"

"Calm me down so easily," she told him. "I've never met anyone who could handle me so well. Not even my uncle has had your success rate."

"Oh you just probably needed a big strong man to handle you," he told her with a smirk and a wink.

"Excuse me? I am perfectly capable of handling myself. And I am strong," she defended.

"Oh, of course you are." With a smirk, he added, "Small fry."

"What? You take that back Luke!" she commanded.

"Sure I will," he told her. "You just have to do something first."

"What?"

Luke swept her up and threw her over his shoulder in a strong grasp. "Get yourself out of this."

"Luke, Luke, Luke! Let me down, right now!" she yelled, in a very uncomfortable position of being tossed over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

"I thought you could handle yourself," Luke replied with a grin. He loved it, having Ellie Beth in his grip. He could easily toss her petite frame around, him being almost a head taller than her and significantly stronger. However, he would admit that she was strong. He could really feel the punches in his back from her.

She started squirming, making it harder to keep his firm grasp on her. "Let me go! Luke, I'm warning you, if you don't put me down now, you're gonna be sorry!"

"Down?"

"Yes!"

"Gotcha." He hiked her up into the air and then dropped her on the pile of tires, and much to his delight, she let out a little scream. Laughing, he dropped down next to her and gave her a kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered, after the kiss broke and they were resting on each other.

"No thank you, Elizabeth," he responded, "for helping my cousin and me."

She looked up with him, her brown eyes soft and warm, and told him truthfully, "I'd do it again, despite what I lost."

"I want you to know something Elizabeth, I'm gonna be here for you, no matter what, okay? I love you."

"I feel the same way, and I'd do anything for you, you know that, right?" she asked.

"I know," he replied, and two remained in comfortable silence till their breathing synced and eyes shut for the night.

Morning came and the sunlight broke through the small windows in the garage, but this did not bother the two lovers. The sound of the door opening stirred the two, Ellie Beth more than Luke. She blinked and a familiar smell of smoke wafted through the air that awoken her more. It was then, before her eyes were fully open, she heard his sharp, strict tone. She knew it was bad, he was angry.

"Elizabeth!" Boss Hogg cried.

She glanced at him, her eyes wide open with fear, and greeted, "Morning Uncle Jeffie."


	10. Uncle's Favorite

**A/N: **Sorry for the late update, my grandfather died on Thursday and it's been just a long few days. There won't be any update on Monday. Sorry.**  
**

* * *

"Don't you 'Uncle Jeffie' me!" Boss Hogg snapped, chomping on his cigar.

"Shh, please don't wake him," Ellie Beth pleaded quietly, slowly easing herself away from Luke's grasp.

"How dare you, telling me what to do!" Boss Hogg cried.

"Please, please, let's go outside," she begged.

"Fine," he huffed and walked outside.

Ellie Beth escaped from Luke's grasp, carefully not to wake him and slipped out of the garage. She saw her uncle, pacing angrily, grimacing when he saw her. She took a deep breath and walked up to him.

"Uncle Jeffie, please don't be mad," she started, but was interrupted by slap to her face.

"I raised you better than this!" Boss Hogg roared. "I took you in after your momma left, and after your daddy was sent up the river. And this is how you repay me?!"

"I'm sorry," she told him, rubbing her cheek.

"I was looking all over for you, to make sure you were alright, and then I find you in the arms of that… that, no good-"

"I know he's not the politician you wanted me to end up with, but he's a good man."

"I would have preferred a bum, than a Duke boy!" Boss Hogg snapped at her.

"You don't understand, Luke's a… Duke?" She had been yelling at the same time Boss Hogg did. Her voice trailed off, eyes wide in shock. "Did you say 'Duke'?"

"Yeah, I did. A dirty, rotten, no good Duke and my only niece has been running around with one!" Boss Hogg exclaimed. "You're supposed to be the smart one!"

"He's a Duke!" she cried, dropping to the ground. She began breathing heavily and stopped paying attention to her uncle's yells.

"EB, EB are you alright?" Boss asked, bending over to check his niece. "Elizabeth, answer me."

"No I am not alright!" she snapped at him. "I just found out I've been dating a Duke. I'm gonna need a little time."

"What do you mean 'just found out'? How long have you two been dating that you don't know his last name but can spend the night in his arms?" he questioned suspiciously.

"We never exchanged last names," she told him. "We never talked about family names. But he's the Luke Duke? And his cousin is Bo Duke. Luke and Bo Duke, of course."

"Ellie Beth, I don't want you seeing him again," Boss commanded.

"That's not fair! You can't tell me what to do!" she yelled.

"Oh yes I can," he roared back. "I'm the one who's putting a roof over your head, feeding you, employing you, and I'm the one who got you out of jail! And most importantly, I'm the one you owe money to, so until you can pay off your debt, I own you."

"But, but Uncle Jeffie, I l-" she started, but was stopped by a death glare.

"Don't! Don't say what I think you're gonna say, 'cause if you do I won't have a niece any more," he told her, deadly serious.

Looking up into his eyes she knew it was the truth. She nodded her head in defeat. "Okay."

"Good." They sat together quietly for a minute, each distracted by their own thoughts. Boss broke the stillness by stating, "So go in there and do what you have to do to end it. And then later tonight stop by the house, for a home made dinner by Lulu. She was worried about you."

"Now? You want me to break up with him now?"

"No, next week. Yes, now! Today, at this moment, pronto."

"Can't it wait a day or two? Please?"

"No, now get on with it! The next time I see you, I want you to be single!"

He left on that final note, leaving Ellie Beth feeling terrible. Her stomach was killing her and she knew what she had to do. Taking a moment to compose herself, she walked in, not sure if she was ready to carry out her uncle's wishes. She glanced over at the pile of tires that were vacant. A noise from the remains of her car brought her attention there. She spotted worn jeans bending over the engine. Despite her mood, she smiled at him.

"Hey Luke," she called out.

His head popped up from the car and he grinned at her, melting her heart. "Hi baby, everything okay?"

"Fine, why?" she replied quickly.

"I heard a racket outside, who were you fighting with?" he asked, coming over, brow scrunched in worry.

She smiled at him, looking deep into his blue eyes. She glanced down and asked, "Luke, did you mean what you said last night?"

"About needing a strong man?" She grinned, but shook her head. "You mean about me always being here for you? I meant it and you have my word Elizabeth, you can always count on me."

"And Dukes always keep their promises, right?" she questioned, gazing up at his eyes.

He blinked; shocked she had called him a Duke. "Yeah we do. How'd you find out I was a Duke?"

"That was JD I was fighting with out there. He was a little surprised to see me in the arms of a Duke and let me know it."

"So he knows you're dating someone, so what? It's your life, he doesn't have a say in it," Luke muttered a tad bitterly.

"Yes he does Luke, you have to realize that," she replied softly. "JD will always have a spot in my life."

"Why, because you owe him money?" he spat. "That ain't no reason to let someone else run your life. I'm sick of feeling like you're have an affair with me. I don't want to share you with that stupid job."

"Luke it's not the money. I'm almost paid off my debt," she informed him. "JD doesn't want me dating a Duke, and well-"

"Don't tell me you agree with him," he roared, and slammed his fist down on the car. "What does me being a Duke change anything? Why should a name make you feel any different?"

"I wasn't going to say that," she replied, coldly. "I can't believe you think I would say that."

"Then what were you gonna say?" he snapped.

"I was going to say, 'and well I love you Luke Duke, so if it comes to between you and JD, I'd pick you, no matter how much it would hurt.'"

"Oh. I like that response a whole lot better." He kicked ground and stated, "I'm… I know that you wouldn't be like that. Can you ever-"

She gave him a quick kiss and replied, "Forgiven, there's just one thing you have to promise me."

"Shoot."

"If you ever find out something terrible about me, something just awful that I can't change, even if I wish I could for your sake, you won't leave me," she pleaded quietly.

"Of course Elizabeth, I love you," he replied, grinning at her.

"I love you too, but we have to be careful, at least till I finish paying off my loan to make sure JD doesn't find out we're still together," she told him.

"Still together?" he repeated.

"He wants me to break up with you, and I think until the money I owe him is paid off it might be best if we pretend like we weren't together."

He sighed and asked, "What's the worse that would happen if he found out?"

"I don't know for sure Luke, but as long as I owe him money I'd rather not find out," she answered. "Please Luke."

"All right, if it means that much to you," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.

"Thank you."

"So what do we do now?"

"I guess you go home to convince your family you're all right, and I see if JD will give me a job without a car," she told him. He nodded, causing her to smile. "I love you Luke Duke, I really do."

"I love you too," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "I'll go give the farm a call so they know I'm alive."

She nodded and walked outside as he made the phone call. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she dropped to the ground, and curled up in a ball. She had no clue what to do. Eventually Boss Hogg would figure out she hadn't left Luke, and now that she knew who Luke was…

It did not change anything, except it changed everything. She had to tell him who she was; it was not fair to keep it a secret anymore. But if she told, she just groaned at the thought of his reaction. She needed to tell him, and she would, at the right moment.

"Well howdy, EB," Cooter greeted, walking up to his garage. "How you feeling after last night?"

"Oh fine, the car's totaled and I just found out my boyfriend is a Duke, everything is fine," she snapped at him.

"Hold on, are you telling me you didn't know Luke was Luke Duke? Haven't you two been seeing each other for over a year now? How did his family not come up in that time?"

"Because if I ask, so tell me about your family, I get the same question back," she replied.

"So Luke doesn't know you're a Hogg?" He started laughing to himself. "That sure would explain how he doesn't have a problem with it."

"That's not funny Cooter, that's exactly how Luke's gonna react when I tell him," she told him.

"Nah, he's going to freak out, but eventually calm down," Cooter assured her.

"Right," she muttered and stood up as Luke walked out of the garage.

"Morning Cooter," he greeted.

"Hello Luke Duke," Cooter replied, grinning at Ellie Beth, who glared at him.

"Much obliged for all your help yesterday," Luke told him, shaking his hand.

"No problem, anything for the Duke family," Cooter responded still grinning at Ellie Beth who groaned slightly.

She needed to leave for her own sanity. "Luke, I should go now. I'll make it out to the farm or give you a call the second things settle down."

He nodded in agreement despite how he really felt. "Good luck."

She glance around to make sure they were safe before she gave him a quick peck and then trotted across the street towards City Hall. Luke's heart sunk with each step further away.

"You doing okay there bud?" Cooter asked, snapping Luke out of his gaze.

"Yeah fine, just wondering about Davis," he covered.

"Sure you are. I looked at Davis last night and well, she's gone Luke. I didn't want to tell EB, she loves that car more than life itself, but she totaled it."

"There's got to be something you can do Cooter," Luke argued. "Can't you get spare parts and a body frame to re-piece it back together?"

"Now Luke, you and I both know that takes a lot of time-"

"I've got plenty of time on my hands. The harvest isn't due for over a month. I could come into town and work on it," Luke suggested.

"And money, which I know both of us ain't got a lot of," Cooter finished.

Luke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So now wouldn't be a good time to see if you've got extra work you need some paying help on?"

"Are you looking for a job?" Luke nodded. "Why? Everything okay on the farm?"

"Oh yeah, everything on the farm is fine, I just need to start saving up a little bit of my own money," he replied.

"Why?"

"I want to make a down payment on the old Daley's house," Luke told him.

"The old Daley's, why? It's too far away to be thinking of expanding the farm," Cooter stated, completely dumbfounded by Luke.

"I know, but I'm not exactly about to purpose to Ellie Beth without having a place of our own to go to," Luke explained to his friend, grinning.

"Purpose? Like man and wife, holy matrimony, till death do you part?"

Luke let out a laugh. "Yup, you hit it on the nose."

"Now hold on a second Luke, have you thought this through? Have you talked to your family about it?"

Luke shook his head. "No, but I know I want to marry her Cooter. I was going to talk to them about it after the dinner last night, which never happened and now I don't think they would be too thrilled about me marrying her."

"That's for sure," Cooter muttered. "Luke, just hold off asking her until you know everything and I mean everything about her, okay?"

Luke nodded in agreement as Uncle Jesse's truck pulled into Cooter's garage. He then gulped as he saw how angry Uncle Jesse was.

_The whole ride back to the farm Luke was getting scolded about running of with a concussion, and how he was going to be doing all the chores around the farm once he got cleared for heavy work from Doctor Applebee, just to make sure he stayed close to home for a good while. Meanwhile, old Boss Hogg was whining about his problem to Rosco._

"I can not believe! It isn't a sight I ever wanted to see," Boss cried, throwing his hat down and sitting down at his desk.

"Oh, what is it little fat buddy? What happened?" Rosco asked.

"My sweet Ellie Beth, my innocent little Ellie Beth, in the arms of a Duke!" he roared.

"Oh dear," Rosco mumbled.

"A Duke Rosco! After everything I did for her, she dates a Duke," Boss wailed. "I did my best to raise her right. Sent her to all the right boarding schools, even after she picked fights and got herself kicked out of a few of them. Made sure she knew the right people, even introduced her to the son of a state's senator. I watched over her in all the summers she spent in Hazzard. And I made damn sure she never had any interactions with any of the Dukes, and now, all my hard work for nothing."

"Now, now Boss, maybe it isn't that bad," Rosco ventured, receiving a glare from Boss.

"Not that bad? Rosco, it's a Duke! A good, honest, incredibly clean Duke. I don't need that kind of people in my life, and neither does EB."

"Oh but Boss, Ah mean Luke Duke's not all that bad. Ah'm sure he treats her well," Rosco tried to defend.

"Who said anything about _Luke_ Duke?" Boss asked, brown eyes narrowing.

"Oh, it's not Luke? Ah just thought it was," Rosco replied quickly.

"Why wouldn't that pea sized brain of yours think it's Bo, he is the ladies' man of the two Dukes? Why would you say Luke unless you already knew?"

"No, of course not, Ah just think Luke's more of Ellie Beth's type," Rosco answered.

"You wouldn't know Ellie Beth's type if it wore a sign and came up and slapped you," Boss retorted. "How long have you known for?"

"Maybe just a few months," Rosco responded in a mumble.

"A few months! Why is everyone against me!" Boss exclaimed. "Rosco, how could you not tell me my own kin was seeing a Duke?"

"Well, uh, you see…" Rosco trailed off, failing to come up with a good excuse so he told the truth. "She asked me not. She knew you wouldn't approve so she asked me not to tell you, and Ah can't say no to her."

"Well isn't this just great, I've got a soft sheriff guarding my town, who can't even stand up to a little girl."

"Now Boss, don't be like that. You and Ah both know that Ellie's got you wrapped around her finger," Rosco shot back. "You'd do anything for that girl, despite what you say."

Boss just "hmmmp"ed and chewed on the end of his cigar, not denying it, but certainly not admitting it. "Maybe I can use this to my advantage, get her to spy on the Dukes for me."

"Oh Ellie Beth would never do that," Rosco said without thinking, scratching Flash behind her ear.

"And why is that?"

"Because she loves him," he answered innocently.

"Rosco?" The sheriff looked up from petting his dog, and Boss yelled, "GET OUT!"

_Those were not the words Boss Hogg wanted to hear ya'll._


	11. An Escape

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone for being so patience with me. I will try my best to update on Saturday for y'all. Enjoy the next chapter.  


* * *

Ellie Beth sighed, as she sat watching her uncle finish some paperwork in the back office of the Boars' Nest. This is what her life had become in the last week. Boss Hogg would not let her out of his sight, kept her from doing any jobs and earning any money, and just made her be still. She could not take it any more.

"Uncle Jeffie, I need to do something! Let me waitress or even clean the kitchen, please," she begged.

"No."

"But I'm going crazy," she whined. "I need to go do something."

"You've been sitting around moping all week, isn't moping doing something?" he shot back.

"I know a way you can get me to stop moping," she told him.

"I'm not letting you see a Duke," he replied and handed her some papers. "Here, you can hole punch these and make it look all neat and pretty."

"Are you gonna pay me?" she asked, just looking at the papers.

"No."

"This isn't fair. How do you expect me to pay you back if you won't give me any jobs? I'm sick of just sitting around."

"Then hole punch, and at the end of it there will be a nice shiny quarter as a reward," he told her, grinning his sickly sweet grin.

"Fine," she muttered and took the papers out of his hands.

As she was punching holes, Boss Hogg reminded her, "You know, there is that one job you can do for me that would make you all paid up."

"I'm not selling out the Dukes," she stated firmly, shoving the papers back into his hands.

"Fine then," he snapped and tossed the quarter at her. "You can go have Rosco drive you back to the house if you're tired of sitting around here."

"So I can sit around there? Please, let me work or something."

"And with what car are you going to use to complete the work? Yours, which is inoperable?"

"I can still do jobs without a car," she stated defiantly.

"No you can't, you need a new car."

"I don't want a new car, I want Davis," she replied. Yes, she was being childish, she knew that, but could not help herself.

"Well you can't have him," Boss Hogg snapped, and then soften suddenly when he saw how upset Ellie Beth was. "Ellie Beth, it's time to move on. How about this, we'll go car shopping tomorrow and I'll get you a really nice one?"

"It won't be the same as Davis," she replied glumly. "And I don't want to owe you anymore money."

"It will be a birthday present." She groaned at the mention of her birth date. "Fine, it will just be a present, nothing to do with your birthday."

She shrugged and stood. "I think I want to get going."

"All right fine, go get Rosco to drive you back to town and go straight your room," Boss told her, and she stood up without another word. Sighing, he pleaded, "Ellie Beth, smile. It's for your own good."

"Right," she muttered as she slammed the door.

* * *

The ride back to town was slow and painful. Ellie Beth slammed the police cruiser's door after a failed attempt on Rosco's part to get her to understand why Boss Hogg was so relentless about his punishment. Glancing around, she spotted the General across the square, and see could see Bo and Luke in Cooter's garage. After a quick survey around her, she bolted away from Rosco towards the garage.

The sounds of Rosco's yells after her, the screeches of tires and horns followed her, as she ran across the street. The three men came out to inspect the noise, each laughed at the sight of Ellie Beth running and Rosco chasing after her. Luke stepped forward, grinning as Ellie Beth leaped into his arms. Their arms wrapped around each other, and Luke spun her around.

"I can't stand it anymore Luke!" she cried. "I'm not getting any jobs, I've made no money and JD hasn't let me out of his sight. And I just want to see you again."

"Ellie Beth, it's alright, we'll figure something out," he told her reassuringly, kissing the top of her head.

"But Luke," she began when Rosco trotted over, out of breath.

"Hold it right there missy," he cried, bending over, taking deep breaths.

"What do you want Rosco?" Luke asked, his arms tightening around Ellie Beth.

"Ah'm here for her," Rosco replied, still breathing hard and pointing towards the girl.

"Rosco, can you give us a few minutes?" she asked.

"No, Boss Hogg gave me strict orders to drive you back to your room and make sure you stay there. And that's what Ah plan to do. So come over here right now!" he ordered.

"Rosco please, I'm going crazy not having anything to do, not seeing Luke or driving. Give me at least five minutes, with him, please!" she begged.

"Ah'm sorry Ellie Beth, but Ah've got strict orders, and well, Boss Hogg pays the bills," Rosco reminded her, trying to pry her away from Luke's grip.

"Now hold on Rosco, just give us a couple of minutes, you owe us that."

"I don't owe you anything Luke Duke!"

Cooter nudged Bo, indicated towards a pile of tiers as the three began arguing. The two edged over to the pile, each took one and then Cooter called out, "Hey Rosco!"

"What?" Rosco replied turning to him in time to have two tiers shoved down his body, immobilizing him.

"Run!" Luke told her and hand in hand, Ellie Beth and Luke made a mad dash to the General.

Cooter and Bo laughed as they watched the General speed off, and Rosco struggled against the tiers. Together, they helped release Rosco from his rubber confinements once the General was a safe distance.

"What was that for? Ah was just trying to do my job. Boss is gonna kill me if he finds out Ah let Ellie run off with Luke," Rosco grumbled to them, fixing his shirt.

"Sorry Rosco, but don't you think it's a little unfair to keep them apart?" Cooter replied.

"Of course Ah do. Any fool could see they're in love, but Boss Hogg has more say in her life than Ah do," Rosco answered.

"Now why is that Rosco?" Bo asked. "I mean just because she works for him, why does that give him so much say in her life?"

"What a stupid question Bo, it's because-" A hand slapped over Rosco's mouth and Cooter quickly whispered in Rosco's ear that Bo and Luke did not know about JD Hogg and Ellie Beth relationship.

Rosco's eyes were wide and he nodded his understanding. Cooter removed his hand and avoided eye contact as Bo stared intently at the two. Rosco looked up at the ceiling and tried to recover. "Well, it's actually very complicated. See Bo, uh, he has so much say because … of the money."

Bo glanced between the two and knew he was missing something. "There's more to it than that. What is it?"

Suddenly Rosco became very flustered and spat, "Ah told you why, it's because of the money she owes. Now if you are done pestering me, Ah have to go figure out a way to save my job."

Bo turned his gaze to his friend as Rosco stormed off. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Cooter replied and headed over to the still inoperable Davis that Luke had been fixing with his free time. "Now are you going to go back to work or not?"

"Not until you tell me what is going on," Bo snapped.

"Bo, don't worry about it. It doesn't affect you," Cooter told him and bent under the hood.

"But it affects Luke, does he know?"

Cooter sighed. "He might know, he might not. All I know is Ellie plans on telling him, so it will probably be today."

"What is it? If she's gonna tell him today you might as well tell me since Luke's gonna tell my anyways."

"Then wait for Luke to tell you."

"Cooter, will you just tell me already!"

"Bo, either stop pestering me or leave! I've got work to do," Cooter snapped.

"Fine," Bo replied and stormed off.

* * *

"Luke?" Ellie Beth questioned, her head resting against his chest.

"Mmhm," he answered in a mumble.

"Just making sure you're awake," she told him with a grin.

"I'm up, I'm up," he assured he, fully opening his eyes to see her lying on him.

"Just wanted to check 'cause I don't think I can stay out too long," she told him.

"Okay, okay, but I wish I didn't have to take you back," Luke confessed. "I wish it could be you and me, and we didn't have to sneak around."

"I know, and I'm sorry Luke. I just need to pay off this debt and I swear it can be you and me."

"Good. Elizabeth, can I tell you something?"

Her heart raced with guilt. "Yes, but I need to tell you something too."

"I want kids."

He said it so bluntly she wasn't sure she heard him right. "What?"

"I want kids. A couple of them, definitely at least a son, but girls wouldn't be too bad."

"Do you know something I don't?"

He laughed. "No, I'm just saying in the future I want kids. Kids, and a house."

"I think the house should come first Luke," she replied with a smile.

"Well this is a house, isn't it?" he asked looking around the old Daley's place.

She gazed around too. "Oh yeah, the hole in the ceiling gives it a real nice open feeling to it."

"Well, I'd fixed it up first, but I think it definitely has potential."

"Sure it does. What are you getting at Luke?"

"That maybe one day, off in the distant, our son could be running around in the back yard, possibly chasing his sister around."

"That would be nice," she told him, smiling.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Luke asked.

She paused, wondering what to say to him. After a moment, she let out a secret desire. "I want a son, who I can dress up in an all white suit on his first birthday."

"Okay, a son it is," Luke replied kissing her.

"Shouldn't I get a ring first?"

Luke groaned playfully. "A ring, a house and then kids, you just want everything, don't ya?"

"And then some," she replied, grinning at him.

"Alright, you win."

"Win what?" she asked, slightly suspicious of his easygoing attitude.

"A ring. I'll get you one as soon as I can," he explained.

She laughed. "Oh Luke, you're a riot." She kissed him on the forehead, not believing he was serious. "Come on, we should get back into town before JD fires Rosco for letting me escape."

"Fine, but only for Rosco's shake," he replied, getting up and stretching. "Can't imagine any other sheriff chasing me or Bo."

* * *

Boss Hogg chomped on his cigar, staring out on the courtyard of Hazzard. For years he had been this county's Commissioner and had grown accustomed to people doing what he ordered, whether by fear or force. But with Ellie Beth, his own kin, she had always willing done anything asked, no matter how big or small. Maybe that is what stung so much about her dating a Duke. He demanded her to stop seeing Luke, and he had some deep suspicions that for the first time in her life she might have disobeyed him, or even if she hadn't now she acting different towards him, resentful.

It killed him to have his niece feeling that way towards him. He never had to buy her love; she had just always given it to him. So now, he had two options to win her back, let her date a Duke, which would never happen on his life, or get her Davis back to her somehow, even if that meant spending money.

Boss Hogg groaned at the thought of losing money, but shuttered at the idea of her being with a Duke. He knew which one he'd rather have.

"Cooter, I need to talk to you," Boss called out in the garage.

The mechanic popped his head up from his current paying project, not Luke's side project of reconstructing Davis. "Howdy Boss, what can I do for ya?"

"I'm here on business, Cooter."

"Bo and Luke run Enos or Rosco off the road again?" Boss shook his head. "Did Enos rear-end Rosco again?"

Boss shook his head violently and snapped, "This has nothing to do with Rosco or Enos! It has to do with EB's car."

"What about Davis?"

"I need you to fix up the car in a few weeks. Three weeks exactly."

"Boss I would love to help you, but fixing that car is a tedious process, it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of money," Cooter informed him. "And even with an unlimited supply of money, I'm only one man. I could never get it up and running in that time frame."

"Listen Cooter, I need _that_ car for my niece's birthday. I don't care what it takes, work your magic and make it run smoother than a blender!"

"You know what, I would love to do this for you, but I can't guarantee it could even be done for her next birthday."

Boss was not having this. He chomped on his cigar as he thought about what he had to say to get Cooter to do what he wanted. This was the time Luke chose to sneak into the garage using the back door, after his afternoon romp. Cooter signaled him to stay quiet and out of sight.

"Cooter, I'm willing to pay for any parts you need and even the money it will take to get those parts in time."

"Boss, I've got other clients, I can't drop everything for you. Not unless, I got an assistant," Cooter explained, shooting a smile at Luke.

"An assistant?"

"Like I said before, I'm only one man. If I had an extra pair of hands, I could work twice as fast to get that car ready for the big day."

"And just how much is it going to cost me for this extra set of hands?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, seeing how it's probably going to take a lot of time and effort on both our parts. I'm talking around the clock, dinners missed, and sleepless nights; I'd say a thousand a week. For each of us," Cooter stated with a grin.

"WHAT!!! A thousand! A week!" Boss wailed. "Why I ain't never heard of anything that steep, for a car!"

"Sorry Boss, but if you want that car for that special someone for that big day, that's the price you need to pay, along with the offer for paying for the parts that you mentioned before," Cooter stated.

"Alright fine, but you only get paid if I get the car running in the best condition it's ever been in and on time!" Boss demanded.

"Deal!" Cooter agreed and the shook on it.

After Boss was a safe distance away from the garage, Cooter let out a yelp and hit Luke in the arm. "Three thousand dollars Luke! Three thousand dollars, will that be enough for a down payment on the Daley's place or what?"

"Cooter, what did you just agree to and why do I feel like somehow you got me involved?"

"Boss Hogg just agreed to pay me and my assistant, that's you, a thousand dollars per week, per person!"

"Cooter, I could kiss you right now! What's the job?"

Cooter held up and finger and walked over to Ellie Beth's Davis that they had covered up in a sheet to make sure she wouldn't find out about Luke little project, and removed the sheet. "Here's the icing on the cake, you're getting paid for doing what you've already been doing."

Luke's face fell. "Cooter, I've been working on this car for Ellie Beth, so she could have the one stable thing in her life back. I'm not about to let all my hard work go so Boss can resell it to make a profit."

"Luke, it's going to Ellie Beth, it's his birthday present to her," Cooter clarified.

"Her birthday is three weeks away! How are we supposed to get it up and running?"

"Hard work, some elbow grease and lots of coffee," he replied simply.

"Let's get to it then," Luke stated, grinning and opening the hood of the car for the first of many long work filled nights.


	12. A Hogg and a Box

It was a warm day, hotter than it should have been, which was a sign things were going to heat up that summer. Luke was working in Cooter's garage, since Cooter was up in South Carolina getting the last parts for Davis to be fixed. It was a little under a week before Ellie Beth's birthday, and miraculously enough it was almost finished. Bending over the car into the engine, he did his best to ignore the heat, focusing on the repairs. However, something disturbed him when he felt a sudden pinch on his butt.

Jumping up, and banging his head while doing so, he quickly glanced around to find Ellie Beth grinning at him.

"My, my, someone certainly is jumpy. We're you expecting someone else?" she questioned, taking a step closer to him.

"No, just didn't hear you come in, that's all," he assured her with a kiss and then quickly shut the hood of the half covered car and then covered the rest from her eyes.

"What are you working on there?" she asked, moving around him to the hidden mystery.

"Nothing, it's just an old wreck Cooter is trying to get parts from," he answered, and then grabbed her tightly and added, "Now let me give you a real hello."

He kissed her passionately, and his distraction worked, for about two seconds after their lips parted.

"Luke, why does an old wreck need to be covered up? It's for me isn't it? My uncle said he was going to take me car shopping and then never did. So I figure he thinks it will probably be cheaper to fix up an old car than buy me a new one. Am I right?"

"Ellie Beth, why can't you ever just relax and let someone surprise you?" he sighed.

"You know I hate surprises, especially around my birthday, just tell me please." She gave him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster.

"Well, when you put it like that, no." He snatched her hands away from lifting up the sheet. "It's gonna be a surprise and your gonna like it."

"Please Luke, baby, give me one little hint. Like, what type of car is it? Standard or automatic? Does it go fast? How powerful is the engine? What color is it?"

He laughed. "Alright," he kissed her quickly and stated, "it's got four wheels."

She hit him and yelled, "That is not fair! Not fair at all."

He kissed her to calm her down and replied, "That's all you get and you're going to have to live with it. So, what brings you over here anyways?"

"I was looking for you to tell you something." He glanced up at her, an eyebrow raised in interest. "JD gave me job, one that pays off all my debt and then some."

"That's great," Luke cried, wrapping his arms around her. "What is it? How long is the job? Do you have to go away? Is it dangerous?"

"It involves me doing things in Hazzard," she answered curtly. He waited from, his expression growing anxious. "It's not so funny anymore, is it?"

"Elizabeth, please."

"Fine. I'm JD bodyguard for the week."

"No, not happening," he responded. "There's got to be something else he can give you."

"Luke!"

"I'm sorry, but if it's so dangerous that Boss Hogg himself wants to hire a bodyguard, it's too dangerous."

"Luke, you don't understand, this is just how his business works. When ever he meets with a new or potentially new 'business' partner, he hires extra help so that the other 'business' man won't think to double cross him. There won't be any danger, it's all just show."

"I still don't like it. Why does he have to give the job to you, can't he hire another guy? A big strong one, an intimidating one?"

"Are you saying I'm not scary?" she joked, giving him a frown.

"Ellie Beth, this is serious. How do you know that the other guy won't bring real bodyguards with real knives or guns? Boss Hogg has a lot of enemies, how do you know they won't use this an opportunity to hurt him?"

"If that is the case Luke, than that's more of the reason I should be there. I would make sure no one would hurt him."

"Damnit, why? Ellie Beth please, I've got some money I was saving up, and once I get paid it will be more than enough to pay off your debt. Please don't do this."

"You'd do the same for Jesse, or Bo, or Daisy," she stated quietly.

"That's different, they're my family," he defended.

She looked into his eyes solemnly. "I love my uncle, Luke, and I'd make sure no one would hurt him. And if he asked me to do it as a favor, free of charge, I still would and he knows that. Luke, he's my family, I've got to protect my family."

Luke stared at her, his brain trying to process what she was saying to him. "Ellie Beth, I don't understand. Your family?"

"Luke, ask me my name," she replied.

"I don't have time for this Ellie Beth!" Luke snapped.

"You never asked me my last name Luke, even after I found out yours. Is it because you didn't want to know? Because you don't want to admit to yourself that you're dating a Hogg?"

He shook his head. "No, no, you're joking around with me."

"My name is Elizabeth Marie Hogg, Luke Duke. JD Hogg is my uncle."

"You're kidding, getting back at me for joking around about getting you a ring," he stated definitely.

"No, I am not Luke. I'm sorry, there was just no good way to tell you," she said simply, taking a step closer.

He backed away from her, and ran a hand through his hair. "I just need a moment."

"Luke," she tried again.

"You couldn't tell me this sooner? You waited all this time to tell me, you couldn't tell me sooner?"

"Luke, when was I supposed to tell you? Between JD trying to take your farm or you and Bo getting arrested on trumped up charges, when was a good time to tell you that was my uncle's doing?"

"I don't know, but you shouldn't have kept it from me," he yelled and his fist pounded on the car.

"I know that, and what do you think I've been trying to tell you for the past few weeks?"

"I can't handle this right now." He turned away from her and started walking towards the door.

"Luke! Please don't go. Can't we talk about this? Stay here, yell at me even, just please don't leave!"

He turned and looked at her. Her brown eyes silently pleading with him to stay, her brow scrunched in worry and her irresistibly pink lips pursed together, holding back more demands for him to stay. He almost began to smile, but then suddenly the image of Boss Hogg in a brown wig, mimicking her pose popped into his head and he had to get away.

"I just need to clear my head," he confessed and head off towards the center of town before she had a chance to stop him again.

She stared wordlessly after him, too hurt to even try to call out for him.

* * *

_A couple days passed and Luke's temper cooled just the slightest, only enough to keep working on Ellie Beth's car, but not enough for him to talk to her. And much to the dismay of the mechanics and Ellie Beth, her birthday loomed closer than anyone was comfortable with. With the sudden absence of Luke in her life, she threw herself into her last job, and working was what she was doing now._

Ellie Beth smiled as she handed out beers to three strangers at the Boar's Nest, while Luke and Cooter arrived, taking a much-needed break. Luke eyed her as he made his way to the bar, and Ellie Beth did her best to make sure her smile never faltered as she felt his stare.

Luke sat down at the bar and mumbled to his waitress cousin, "What, is Boss making her have the job as bartender too?"

"Luke, she put something in their drink," Daisy told him. This got his full attention. "I came over and saw her pour something into each of those beers."

It was then Ellie Beth came over and placed the serving tray on the counter. She rounded the bar stating, "Thanks for the lend Daisy."

She then casually began pouring out two beers when Daisy began, "Um, Ellie, earlier I saw, well it looked like you…"

Daisy trailed off and shot a pleading glance at her older cousin. Sighing, knowing exactly what she wanted, he asked her question, "What did you put in those folks' beer?"

"Oh that. Moonshine," she answered curtly and finished pouring one beer.

"Really? Why?" Daisy questioned, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Gets them drunker, that way if a fight breaks out, you know you've got the upper hand."

"I guess that makes sense," Daisy stated.

"It sounds conniving if you ask me," Luke responded, reaching out and taking the beer she had already poured.

"Well no one asked you, and that wasn't for you, _Duke_," she snapped, now having to pour another beer to replace the one he seized,

"I'm sorry, I just figured since you work for Boss so much you must be his bartender too," he replied innocently, taking a sip.

"You know what, that's fine," she explained as she finished pouring her last beer. "In fact, here's a little extra." She took a deep breath and blew all the foam out of her mug and into his face. "Enjoy."

He got the beer out of his eyes in time to see her hand off the two beers to her male company and slide into the booth with them. He glared at that booth only to recognize the men as Frank and Vin from the incident out by Willow's Creek. An uneasy feeling quickly settled in Luke's stomach as he felt a strong need to watch her for any danger.

His eyes never left her table, which is why whenever she looked over at him their eyes would catch and one of them would end up smiling. Finally Ellie Beth stood and grinned at Luke. Frank shook his head no and Vin's hand flew out and grabbed her wrist forcefully. He seemed angry and attempted to pull her back down. Luke stood up and straight and pushed to the edge of his barstool, ready to spring up and start round two with Vin. However Ellie Beth jerked her arm away from him and made her way across the bar.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hello," he replied and for a moment neither one knew what to say to the other.

"So, how you've been?"

He stared at her, she was so uncomfortable he couldn't help but smile. "I've been fine. Still trying to figure out how I never knew you were a Hogg."

"I know the feeling. I felt like you just had a neon sigh hanging over you that said 'Duke', but I never saw it. Uncle Jeffie had to point it out to me," she replied.

Luke choked on his beer and repeated, "'Uncle Jeffie'? That's what you call Boss Hogg?"

"Yes, he's my uncle, I'm allowed to call him by his name," she responded.

Luke just shook his head and muttered, "Oh Lord." He took a big gulp of his beer and asked, "So, what exactly is going on right now?"

"Uncle Jeffie is meeting with Calbrem, negotiating the final terms of the agreement and so I've just got to keep an eye Calbrem's boys. See that boy over there, the tall blonde one?" Luke nodded sizing up that he was the weaker of the three. "That's Calbrem's son and those two are his goons. He's the mouth and they're the muscle."

Luke's eyes traveled over to her previous table and noticed the similarities between the two parties. "So is that why Boss Hogg hired those two, to be your muscle?"

She glanced over at the boys in mention, Vin's eyes always watching her and Frank shaking his head at the situation. "Yes, they are my muscle. You never know when something might go down."

Luke slammed down his beer. "Damn it Ellie Beth, why are you doing this? Those guys look dangerous and you could get hurt."

She took a deep breath, hoping not to start a fight and replied, "He's my uncle, Luke. I've got to protect my family."

"Oh don't you see Boss Hogg is using you? Uncle or not, he's getting cheap labor out of you and knows you won't say no," Luke told her.

"That's not what it's like," she replied.

"Of course it is! You just can't see it because you think your uncle loves you unconditionally, but I've got news for you, honey, the only thing that man loves is money."

She glared at him, and anger swirled in her. She started breathing heavily and yelled at him, "You know what, Luke Duke, contrary to your belief, you don't know everything, so you can get the hell out of my uncle's bar!"

"Gladly," he spat at her and stood up, motioning Cooter to follow suit.

She watched him as he left, and cursed under her breath. In the next second she chased after him.

"Luke wait!" she cried, seeing him open the door to Cooter's wrecker.

"What?" he replied, staring at her.

"Luke, you told me the first night you met me, that you didn't think I was someone you should turn your back on, so please don't. Luke, I'm sorry about that, but please don't go," she told him, her eyes wide with silent pleas.

"You kicked me out," he reminded her.

"I'm sorry okay, but you don't know everything about my relationship with Uncle Jefferson," she replied.

"I know it can't be that good if he's holding that debt over your head all the time. And why is he asking you to do such dangerous jobs? What type of uncle does that?"

She walked up to him and answered softly, "I wanted to pay off my debt. Uncle Jeffie was going to let it slide. But I was in a bad place and paying off a debt gave me some kind of structure in my life. And I asked for the dangerous jobs, it was some much needed excitement. But then I met you and you were enough."

Luke sighed and smiled at her. He rested his head on hers and stated, "You really are a confusing one, you know that?"

"I told you I was trouble," she reminded him.

"You make it very hard for me to stay mad at you," he explained.

She grinned at him, but her response was cut off, by Vin coming out into the parking lot, and ordering, "Hogg, come on, we got a job to do."

"In a minute," she said to him and turned back to Luke. "Can we talk tonight at the old Daley place?"

"Hogg, now!" Vin snapped, walking towards her.

"Just give me a moment!"

"No, he said now!" Vin replied and grabbed her arm.

"Go in without me, I'll deal with him later," she explained and attempted to pull her arm away from him.

Vin was not having this. He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, despite her scream. He grinned as he turned away from an angry looking Luke.

"Vin! Let me go!" she yelled as she pounded on his back. "This is not funny!"

"Put her down now!" Luke roared, grabbing Vin roughly.

"Alright," Vin told him and turned to face him. He then carelessly dropped Ellie Beth to the ground.

She yelped with pain as she landed on her elbow. The rocks cut into her skin and there was a sudden sting as the gravel underneath her shifted and dirt crept into her fresh cuts. She looked up to see Luke shoving Vin and yelling, "If you ever touch her again, you're a dead man!"

"What are you going to do ploy boy?" Vin instigated, pushing Luke right back.

"Vin stop!" she ordered, sitting up and ignoring the pain in her elbow.

Vin glanced over at her and backed away from Luke. "Fine. But we have a job to do."

"I'm coming," she replied, standing up. Vin glared at her, but headed inside.

"I'm going to kill him," Luke muttered. He touched her elbow lightly and stated, "Look, you're bleeding."

"It's fine Luke, but I have to go now. Can we talk tonight?"

"Okay, Daley's house?" Luke suggested.

She nodded and went to turn around when Luke whirled her around and kissed her. It caught her off guard, the sudden kiss. She nearly stumbled, but Luke's strong arms wrapped around, and her arms soon found their way around his neck. She lost herself in the kiss, only disturbed when the noise of a crowd exiting the Boar's Nest interrupted their kiss.

Though their lips were apart, their bodies were still very close, only to hear some snickering behind them. She turned her head to see her uncle walk out with an older gentleman Luke could only assume was Calbrem, and all their goons behind them.

Calbrem smirked at Boss Hogg and taunted, "Boss, it seems your niece would rather be with some farm boy than doing her job. Good help is so hard to find."

"Yes, it's getting so you can't even trust your own kin," Boss grumbled. "Well Calbrem, I'll see you in a couple days."

Calbrem nodded and grinned at Ellie Beth as he walked by. His son winked as he followed his father to the car. She groaned and glanced apologetically towards her uncle. He just put on his sweet smile and waved goodbye to his business partner, and told everyone to do the same. "Smile and wave. Smile and wave."

Once the car was gone, Boss's smile dropped and he was now glaring at the two. "What exactly do you think you are doing?"

"I can explain," she started, but Boss held up his hand.

"Luke Duke, get your hands off my niece!"

"Boss, hold on a second, Ellie Beth's a grown woman, she can decide whether or not she wants my hands on her," Luke replied.

"Off or I'll have you arrested!"

"Uncle Jeffie, you can't do that!" Ellie Beth cried.

"Don't you 'Uncle Jeffie' me! How dare you! You told me you were through with him! You've been lying to me all this time," he shouted at her.

"You never gave me a chance to explain, or hear how I felt about him," she defended.

"Because you shouldn't be with him! You're a Hogg and he's a Duke!"

"I know that!" she snapped.

"Ellie Beth, you get over here right now and away from that boy!"

"And if I don't?"

"Vin, grab her," Boss ordered.

"Gladly," Vin replied and stepped towards her.

Luke quickly pushed Ellie Beth behind him, and growled at Vin, "I'd like to see you try."

"You forget about what happened during round one?"

Luke just held up a hand to keep Vin at a distance, and that's when Boss noticed Luke's watch. He pointed to it and cried, "That's my watch! What are you doing with it?"

"No, it's Luke's watch," she replied, poking her head out from behind Luke.

"How'd you get it Duke? Did you steal it?"

Luke kept silent and that did not please Boss Hogg. "You stole it, didn't you? You're getting arrested for larceny, Luke Duke."

"He didn't steal it, I took it from you," Ellie Beth confessed. She spotted Cooter, who had come outside to see the trouble first hand. She wondered how long he had been watching, but still glad to see him, that meant Luke could escape without going to jail.

"Then you're arrested for receiving stolen property," Boss corrected and pulled out a cigar. "That will still lock you away for a year and you get out of my hair and away from my niece."

Ellie Beth could not take it anymore. It upset her to see her uncle threaten Luke with jail time, and knew what it would take to let Luke leave today as a free man. She stepped away from the safe zone behind Luke and walked over to her uncle. "I took it, if anyone should be arrested, it's me."

"We'll talk about it later," Boss replied and turned his attention back to a lonely Luke. "I could still get you on disturbing the peace."

Ellie Beth met Cooter's eyes and nodded towards his truck. She then looked at Luke and told him, "You should get out of here before you get arrested."

"No."

"Luke, you're just gonna do more harm than good. Get out of here and I'll see you tonight." She added the last part so only he could hear her.

"Fine," he sighed and turned his attention to Boss Hogg, "I'm gone." Then he walked towards the Cooter's car and Cooter joined him.

Ellie Beth turned back to her uncle, who took off his hat and swatted her with it. He began yelling at her, and she started arguing back, all the while Luke could only watch and wish Ellie Beth was in the truck with him as his friend drove away.

As Cooter's truck left the Boar's Nest and the family dispute behind them, Luke requested, "Do you mind dropping me off at the farm? I've got to talk to my family about something."

"No problem," Cooter replied. "It wouldn't be about a certain girl you were fighting with in the bar and then kissing in the parking lot?"

Luke rolled his eyes and answered, "Yup, it just might. I think I still want to marry her."

"Really? Luke, you would still marry her? Did you miss the part where she's Boss Hogg's niece? Wasn't that what the whole fight was about?"

"I'm thinking about it Cooter, ain't nothing in stone yet," Luke clarified.

"Mhmm," Cooter mumbled, knowing his friend well enough to conclude that if Luke was thinking about bring it up to his family that he was serious.

* * *

Luke entered his home, searching for a certain box. Each cousin had their own box, containing pictures, letters and memorabilia from their parents and life before coming to Hazzard. Luke remembered only really searching through this box once before in his life. It was right before he shipped out and he had a sudden need to understand his past. Now, his focus was on pictures of his parents and their wedding. He smiled to himself as he took in the picture of his father and mother, shoving cake into each other's faces.

Placing the photo album down, he reached into the box, searching for what he was truly looking for. He missed the footsteps walking up behind him as his hand closed around the box.

"Whatcha doing down there Luke?" Uncle Jesse's old voice asked.

"Just looking for something," Luke answered and stood up to meet his uncle's gaze.

His uncle noticed the box in his nephew's hand and commented, "Luke, that looks like your momma's ring."

"It is," Luke answered. "Is Bo home? And shouldn't Daisy be home soon?"

"Bo's getting her right now," Jesse told him. "Now Luke, why do you have that?"

"If you don't mind Uncle Jesse, I'd rather wait till Bo and Daisy get here so I can answer everyone's questions then," Luke replied respectfully.

"Luke, is this for that Elizabeth girl? The one who whenever I try to meet her she's either sick or as Bo so elegantly put it last time, 'a no good Hogg goon'?"

"Oh, she actually is Boss Hogg's niece," Luke told his uncle casually, but still grimaced saying that.

"Boss Hogg's niece? You mean to tell me your Elizabeth is EB Hogg??" Jesse roared as he followed his nephew into the kitchen.

Luke looked out the kitchen window to see his two cousins climbing out of the General. He called out, "Bo, Daisy, get inside, I need to talk to both of you."

They shared a look between them before hurrying inside. Once in the kitchen, Luke urged his family to take a seat. Jesse sat, but he looked very concern about his oldest nephew's well being. From what he remembered of EB growing up she was trouble. She fought, drank, drove moonshine, and was Boss Hogg's willing right hand man.

"So I wanted to talk to all you about Ellie Beth," Luke started. He grabbed a kitchen chair and squeezed. "I love her and I'm thinking about asking her to marry me."

They all were silent for a moment, before everyone's opinion exploded.

"Weren't you just screaming at each other an hour ago?" Daisy exclaimed and Bo cried, "But she works for Hogg!"

"Luke, I don't think that's a good idea," Jesse interjected.

"How much do you even know about her Luke? I mean what else is she hiding besides working for Boss?" Bo asked.

"A lot Bo, I've been seeing her for well over a year," Luke replied. "And she works for Boss Hogg because he's her uncle."

Luke knew that would get their attention. It had to be said and put out in the open, but he still didn't want to hear what Bo had to say.

"Her uncle?" Bo repeated quietly.

"Oh no Luke," Daisy exclaimed.

"I know none of you are too thrilled to hear this, but I think it's only fair for all you to know it and my intentions," Luke explained.

"So she's a Hogg?" Bo clarified. Luke nodded and Bo shook his head. "You're talking about having a Hogg in the family Luke! A no good, rotten, dirty scoundrel Hogg! How do you know she isn't going to try to con you out of the farm on your honeymoon?"

"Bo, she's not like that."

"She's a Hogg, they're all like that!"

"Bo, Luke!" Jesse called, trying to settle the fight. Once the boys settled down, Jesse said his peace. "Luke, I'm going to speak my mind and then let you do what you believe is best. I know you have feelings for this girl, but you have to know if you pursue this girl, JD will never give you a moment's peace. You might love her, but do you love her family? Would you be willing to stand having JD as an uncle-in-law? And EB, do you honestly think she would be okay marrying into the Duke family?

"Luke, we're your family so we'll support your decision, but you should take in all the factors before you make it. You love her, but does she love you? Because you asking her to marry you might be asking for her to give up everything she has or ever knew."

He smiled at the question, knowing the answer beyond a doubt. "Thank you Uncle Jesse, and I will keep everything in mind."

* * *

Luke sat, his hand tracing the box that held his mother's wedding ring. He wondered how to purpose. Should he get down on one knee? Should he use the standard "Will you marry me?" Or should he mix it up?

Nervously he glanced down at his watch. He smiled at it. This watch had so many good emotions with it, thoughts of family and a happy marriage. His memories of his parents, distant and few, were always happy and he could feel the love. Maybe that's why he waited so long to actually purpose to a woman. He figured he was just waiting for a woman who exhibited love in every sense possible.

And that was Ellie Beth. Even when he was fighting with her, he knew she loved him. She had passion, and let it be known. Even when they were fighting, something in her eyes always displayed her feelings for him and he knew she loved him.

Smiling, he checked the time again. They never set a time to meet, but he didn't care. He would wait all night if he had to.

* * *

**A/N:** So this chapter is super long to help make up for everything being late and crazy. Also, I have two different endings in mind for this story, so you get both of them, yay!! Thanks for reading, and hoped you all enjoyed it.


	13. The Answer

**A/N: **I forgot today was Monday! Sorry. Here's the next chapter for everyone!**  
**

* * *

Bo, Daisy and Jesse Duke sat around the kitchen table, unusually quiet. As Jesse sipped his morning coffee, he wondered what had become of his oldest nephew. He mused over the idea that the next time he saw Luke, Luke could be engaged. Jesse shook the thought from his head.

It was everyone's thought at the table, yet no one would dare ask it. They were almost afraid to hear if he had gone through with it. Bo stared at his eggs, stabbing them with a fork, frustrated. Daisy glanced around at her kitchen, trying to imagine Luke and Ellie Beth sitting with them. Somehow, she did not like the idea of having another woman on the farm.

The sound of a car disturbed everyone's thoughts. Bo and Daisy jumped up and ran to the door. Only Luke got out of the car and he made sure he got inside using the front door to avoid his cousins. Before anyone had a chance to ask him a questioned, he locked himself in his room.

Together the remaining three Dukes stared at the door Luke was hiding behind. Bo glanced at his family and then back at the door, wondering out loud, "Do you think he asked her?"

Jesse shrugged, and sat back down at the table. When Luke was ready, he'd tell them.

_Luke managed to slip out of the farm without anyone noticing till they heard the sound of the General roaring to life and headed towards town. Bo and Daisy were not having this. They chased after him, letting their curiosity get a hold of their better judgment._

Luke got out at Cooter's garage and Bo and Daisy were right behind him. Luke continued to ignore them and headed inside. "Cooter, hey Coot!"

"Lukas Dukas how are you this fine morning?" Cooter greeted, grinning his Cheshire cat grin.

"Fine Cooter, what else do we need to do for Davis?" he asked.

"Now hold it right there Luke," Bo cried. Luke turned and Bo continued, "Well, what happened with EB?"

"Bo, I want to finish this car, it needs to get done by tomorrow," Luke told him, and removed the cover from his project.

"Luke!" Bo and Daisy cried.

"Listen you two, I've got work to do, so either you help me, or get out and I'll deal with you later," he replied and popped the hood up.

"You're not going to tell us if you asked her?" Daisy responded, eyes wide with disappointment.

"I'm on a deadline," he stated curtly.

"Luke, we're almost done," Cooter told him. "We just need to replace the headlights."

"And you know Luke that won't take long, so spill!" Bo coaxed.

"Damn it Bo!" Luke roared and slammed his fist against the car. "I'm sick of all your stupid questions!"

He stormed outside, kicking an empty can on his way.

"I don't think she said yes Bo," Daisy theorized, and then walked out to her cousin. Bo quickly followed suit, head hung.

"Luke, sugar, what happened last night?" Daisy asked with a concerned frown.

"Nothing," he answered.

"Something happened," Bo replied. "Come on, tell us. We just want to help."

"Nothing happened!" Luke snapped. "How could anything have happened? She didn't show up. I waited all night, and she never came."

"Something must have come up," Daisy stated.

"I didn't get a call about something that came up," Luke told her. "Unless, did she call the farm?"

Bo and Daisy shook their head sorrowfully.

"See, she's didn't show, didn't call. I guess she doesn't care," Luke grumbled.

"Luke, look in there!" Cooter ordered him. "That's her car we've been fixing up, that she wrecked trying to save you and Bo. She cares about you so don't even think that. She loves you, and if she didn't show up, there must have been important that kept her."

"What if she left Cooter? What if she went away? What if she's gone?" Luke asked, glancing at his friend.

"Where would she have gone and how'd she get there? We have her car," Cooter reminded him with a grin. "She's somewhere in Hazzard, and she'll show up with an explanation."

Luke smiled. "Thanks Cooter. Maybe I shouldn't wait around for her to show up. I'm going out to see if I can find her."

"Where are you going to start looking?" Bo asked.

"I figure Boss has something to do with this, so I'm going to start at his old still sites," Luke told him.

"Well Bo and I can head out over towards Eagle's Ridge and check Boss's still sites around there," Daisy offered.

"I'll start on the other side of town," Luke stated.

"And I'll stay here and do some work ya'll," Cooter interjected.

Luke smiled at his friend. "If she-"

"You'll be the first to hear if she comes around."

"Thanks. Alright, let's get going."

_Now that was a site I never thought I'd see, Dukes actually wanting to find a Hogg. The Dukes searched all day, but to no avail. If Ellie Beth was still in Hazzard, Boss was doing a good job of hiding her._ _Luke decided to confront Boss about his disappearing niece. Unfortunately for Luke, the first chance he got was the next day, Ellie Beth's birthday._

Boss Hogg strolled over to Cooter's garage. He smoked his cigar with a gleeful smile. He was feeling good this morning, and only he and Rosco knew why.

"Morning Cooter," Boss greeted, but then frowned when he saw Luke Duke. "So is the car finished?"

"Yes sir," Cooter answered.

"So how are you getting it to Ellie Beth?" Luke asked, leaning against the car. "You bringing her here or bringing Davis to her?"

"Well, I'll be sending it up to her," Boss answered sweetly.

"Sending it up?" Luke repeated, his face dropped. "Sending it where?"

"Why to Charleston, North Carolina," Boss replied, grinning happily at Luke's devastated face. "She and I talked it over, and we decided it would be best for her to go spend some time with our family. Get her head straight. So she left the other night. Didn't she call and tell you?"

"No, she wouldn't leave, you made her leave, didn't you?" Luke accused.

"I didn't make her do anything. I gave her some options. I told her if she stayed and continued seeing you that I would have to disown her and cut her off, or she could go spend time with her brother and remember who she is. She made the right choice."

"No! She wouldn't leave me."

That pushed Boss Hogg's button. "Oh and why is that Luke Duke? Do you really think she would pick you over her family? I'm her uncle, you're just some boy."

Boss Hogg shoved an envelope into Cooter's hand and walked over to the car. He went to open the door, but it didn't budge. "What is wrong with this door?"

"They're welded shut, it's a safety feature," Luke replied softly, looking down at the ground.

Boss grumbled to himself and then stated to Cooter, indicating the envelope, "That's your pay, I'll have Rosco or Enos come pick up the car later."

Boss turned to leave, and Luke asked, "Where in Charleston is she?"

Boss frowned. He wanted Luke to be destroyed at this news, angry with Ellie Beth. He expected Luke to react much fiercer, yell at him, not ask for her address. "None of your business Duke."

He stormed off, his plan not working. He hoped Luke would never want to see Ellie Beth again, not try to chase after her. He made his way to the courthouse, where he had to make his second part of the plan work.

He climbed down the stairs to the jail cells and banged on the cell. Ellie Beth jumped up, disoriented.

"Luke," she cried, but then blinked and was aware of her surroundings. She groaned at her uncle and greeted, "Morning Warden."

"How are we feeling this morning?" Boss asked, sitting down and looking into her cell. "Happy birthday by the way."

She groaned and rubbed her face. "Has anyone stopped by?"

"He's not coming, Ellie Beth," Boss told her.

"Can you try the farm again?"

He sighed. "You saw I already called and left a message with Jesse. Luke knows you're in here, and he hasn't come to your rescue. It's been two nights and a whole day, he doesn't care that you're in here."

She glanced down at the ground and brought her knees up to her chest. "I just thought… I guess you might be right."

Boss Hogg smiled at this. "See Ellie Beth, I told you you couldn't trust those Dukes. Should have listen to me before you went and threw away everything."

She kept quiet and buried her face in her knees. He waited for a response, and got agitated when silence met him. "Elizabeth, are you listening to me?"

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice cracking from quiet tears.

"Are you crying?" he asked, standing up and stepping closer to her cell.

"No." She was clearly lying.

"Hoggs don't cry!" Boss reminded her.

"You made it very clear I'm not a Hogg anymore!" she snapped. "So leave me be!"

"Ellie Beth, stop crying," he ordered. She stopped listening to him, and kept crying. "Ellie, honey, calm down. Stop crying, I can't stand to see you cry. Tell me what to do to make you stop."

"Nothing, you've done enough _Commissioner Boss_!"

"Come on now Ellie Beth, dry your eyes, you've still got a job to do. And if you do it real well I'll drop the grand theft watch charge against you," Boss told her. "There, doesn't that sound nice?"

"And then what? Luke doesn't want me, and you made it damn clear you want nothing to do with me. I'll be out of jail with nowhere to go and no money. What's so nice about that?"

"EB, you're my niece, I won't let you have nowhere to go," Boss assured her.

"As long as I'm not seeing a Duke, right?" she responded.

"That would be preferable," he stated, but smiled at her as he opened the door to her cell. "Now come on, we have to meet Calbrem at noon."

* * *

Now Luke found himself in a state of distress. He was helping Daisy set up the Boar's Nest for lunchtime, and talking over his problem.

"So she left for North Carolina?" Daisy clarified.

"That's what Boss told me," Luke answered, taking down a chair. "I think Boss sent her there to get away from me."

"So what are you going to do?"

"North Carolina isn't that far and my probation is almost over," Luke told her.

Daisy stopped. "Luke, you can't be serious."

He opened his mouth to assure her when a loud bang disturbed the peace of the nearly deserted Boar's Nest. Luke recognized it as a gunshot and shoved Daisy behind the bar.

"Stay down, no matter what, stay down," he ordered her.

Luke glanced around bar and for a moment everything was still. In the next moment the door to Boss's back office bust open and two tumbling bodies rolled out, followed by a gang of standing ones.

It took Luke a moment for the figures to come into focus, but the two fighting bodies he recognized as Ellie Beth and Calbrem Jr. He watched in shock as Ellie Beth forced Calbrem Jr. to the ground and socked him a couple times. "I'd like to see you try to pull a gun on us again!" she yelled, and hit him again.

"You stupid girl!" Calbrem Jr. yelled at her, grabbing her neck and forcing off of him and on to the ground. He squeezed a little harder and ask, "Don't got much to say now, do you?"

She felt the pressure of his hand around her neck, so she started smacking him and clawing at his hand. The force increased and her hand slipped to the ground. Luke saw this and jumped out from behind the bar and tackled Calbrem Jr. He landed a few punches till Calbrem's bigger henchmen pulled him off and held him back.

"What the hell is going on Hogg?" Calbrem demanded to know, indicating towards Luke.

"We could ask you the same thing!" Ellie Beth shot back, rubbing her neck. "Your son brought a gun when we were supposed to be weapons free."

"And your uncle brought an extra man," Calbrem Jr. snapped.

"Hey, I don't work for Boss," Luke defended.

"So you just happened to be here when we were here?"

Luke glanced over at the bar area, and Ellie Beth followed his gaze and suddenly knew what worried him. Daisy.

"He's the bartender, he was setting up for lunch," she answered. "You can let him go."

Calbrem nodded and the two goons released Luke. "Just go about your business and pretend we're not even here."

Luke looked at the older gentleman and realized he was completely serious. Suddenly, he was glad he had helped Daisy prepare for lunch so many times that he knew what to do. He moved away from the business meeting and kept taking down chairs, stealing glances towards Ellie Beth.

"So about the money Hogg," Calbrem started.

"Why should we pay you any thing," Ellie Beth cried. "You were going to double cross us!"

"EB," Boss said in a warning tone.

"What? You know it's the truth," she defended. "You were going for the money and then Junior here reached for his gun. He was going to double cross us."

Vin came up behind her and whispered, "Shut your mouth EB, if you know what's good for you."

Calbrem smiled at her. Luke did not like that smile, or the fact Calbrem took a step towards her. "EB, you were always so smart. You know how this business works."

"So you were trying to double cross me!" Boss cried. "How dare you! Get out of my building!"

"We are double crossing you," Calbrem Jr. corrected, and gave a meaningful nod.

"Ha, like I'm gonna give you any money," Boss told him.

"Oh I think you will," Calbrem replied and then smiled sweetly at Ellie Beth. He stroked her cheek and asked, "What do you think EB?"

Everyone's attention turned to her, who in response was quiet. Luke did not like how close Vin was standing next to her, or the fact that his hand was on her arm. Luke moved around, placing bowls of popcorn on tables, trying to get a better look of what was going on.

"We're waiting," Calbrem reminded her.

"Don't give him the money," she replied quietly.

"Maybe you should rethink your answer," he told her and reached out to touch her face again.

Luke wondered why she didn't step away from him, or slap his hand away like she normally would have. It was then he noticed that Vin was squeezing her arm, keeping her in place. And also, he got a flash of something shiny and metal being pressed into her back.

"I'm not paying you anyone money," Boss stated. "So you can just get out."

Ellie Beth's face scrunched in pain and she whispered, "Maybe you should pay him the money Uncle Jeffie."

Luke had been making his way over to the group, picked up a chair and smashed it across Vin's back. Vin swore, and whipped around, still holding on to Ellie Beth. He moved the gun from her back and pressed it against her head when he saw it was Luke.

"Try anything like that again ploy boy and she gets it," Vin told him, and pulled Ellie Beth closer to him.

"Vin! What are you doing?" Boss asked, wide eyes staring at the gun next to his niece's head.

"They pay better and I'd thought it be kinda fun pulling one over on you Hoggs," Vin answered. "Isn't this fun EB?"

"I'm having a ball," she replied sarcastically.

"So Hogg, that money?" Calbrem reminded him.

"Alright, alright, I'll get you your money, just don't hurt my Cinnabon," Boss told him and hurried to the back.

"Cinnabon?" Vin repeated with a smirk and Ellie Beth just groaned at her uncle's nickname for her.

"It would have just been better if you had gone along with us," Calbrem told Ellie Beth. "You shouldn't have caused trouble. I was trying to avoid all this."

"Oh, I'm sorry I messed up your plans to rip off my uncle," she replied.

"You only ruined plan A, but everything seems to be working out for plan B," he explained. He nodded to one of his goons and ordered, "Go get the car ready."

His goon left as Boss came back with a briefcase. "Here's your money Calbrem, now let her go."

Calbrem handed the briefcase over to his son. "We'll look it over and get back to you. Come on boys."

"I gave you your money, now give me back my niece!" Boss cried.

"She's got to be worth more to you than a measly five thousand," Calbrem replied. "We're going to keep her until we figure out just how much."

"Let her go!" Luke roared and stepped towards Vin.

"Go ahead and try something, I'd love an excuse to shoot you," Vin told him, point the gun in his direction.

"Stop pretending like you care and just get the hell out of here before you get yourself shot," Ellie Beth spat at Luke.

"We really should be going," Calbrem stated. "Come on Vin, go load the cargo in the car. And Hogg, don't try anything like following us because you might have a problem with killing, but I don't. We'll call you once we figure out a price for her."

Her eyes grew wide at the idea of their prisoner fully hit her. "No, no, no!" she cried and started fighting for the first time against Vin's grip. She kicked and squirmed, screaming, "Let go of me! No, don't touch me!"

Vin just kept dragging her across the bar, ignoring her cries. Calbrem just smirked at her yells and told Vin, "Get control of her."

Vin nodded and leaned over her and whispered something into her ear. She stopped moving and Luke could see her fear darken her brown eyes. Vin smiled and looked up at Luke and winked. He got Ellie Beth out of the bar without another problem. There was nothing Luke or Boss could do to stop him.

They heard the car taking Ellie Beth away fade away into the horizon. Luke grumbled and went around the bar to check on Daisy. "You alright honey?" he asked.

She nodded and Luke turned his attention to Boss. "North Carolina! That didn't look like North Carolina! What the hell is going on Boss?"

"What do you think is going on? My niece is in the hands of madmen!" Boss answered. "This was never supposed to happen, she was never supposed to be in any real danger."

"Why would you even think about giving her this job when you have other men? I told her this was a bad idea," Luke snapped.

"Luke Duke you've got to help me get her back!"

"First you need to explain to me why you told me she had left for North Carolina?"

"I told you that so you would think she didn't want to be with you, when really after I threaten to disown her she still wanted to be with you and even after I threw her in jail she just wanted to call you. I wasn't prepared to lose my baby girl to a Duke, so I told her that I called you, but I didn't. I wanted her to hate you, and I wanted you to hate her too, so I told you she left you," Boss confessed.

"You arrested your own niece?" Luke roared. "When was this?"

"About two nights ago."

"When she was supposed to meet me? So you let her sit in jail for two nights just so you could make us both miserable? That's low Boss."

"I'm not proud of everything I've done, but you've got to believe me when I tell you I never wanted to put Ellie Beth in harm's way. I thought I was protecting her, that's why I wanted to keep you two apart," he explained.

"Alright, so what are we going to do to get her back?" Luke asked.

"I think the only thing we can do is wait for that phone call and give him the money," Boss replied with a sigh. "But I want a plan for the drop off. No one hurts my family and gets away with it. I'll have Rosco and Enos follow and try to catch Calbrem once he leaves, but I want you there at the drop off incase there's trouble. Luke, I don't care what it takes, but we're getting my niece back."

Despite the fact he was a Duke and Boss was a Hogg, Luke nodded in agreement. He wanted Ellie Beth back. He turned to Daisy, "We're gonna need extra coverage, you think Dixie is up for it?"

"Sure thing Luke," she replied with a nodded.

Luke grinned at her. "Let's go round up the troops then."

"Where are you going?" Boss asked as they headed towards the door.

"Boss, it's gonna take more then Rosco and Enos," Like responded. "You wait for the phone call, I'm going to get some more help."

Boss nodded and did the only thing he could do, wait by the phone.

_Now folks, Luke and Daisy rounded up Bo, Cooter and Uncle Jesse and explained the situation. They all agreed to help and so they got Rosco and Enos to meet them back at the Boar's Nest to device a plan. By that time Boss had received the call and knew when and where they were going to meet._

"Alright," Luke started and pointed to a spot on a map of Hazzard, "we're going to meeting Calbrem at one in Tropple Valley. I want Uncle Jesse up by Eagle's Ridge watching the whole thing and Cooter over on Harper's Cliff. You two will be our eyes and let us know which directions they head off in. Enos and Daisy, you will be going after Calbrem. Be careful and stay in contact with each other. Calbrem's dangerous and he means business."

They nodded, so Luke turned his attention to Bo and Rosco. "You two, if things go smoothly, they give us Ellie Beth, take the money and leave, you'll be going after Calbrem as well. If something goes wrong, or they try to leave with Ellie, you follow Ellie no matter what. You're job is to get her back if we can't."

"You got it cousin," Bo assured him.

"Okay, then everyone get a good night's rest. We'll meet back here tomorrow to finalize everything," Luke told them.

Everyone agreed and started heading towards the exit. Boss held Luke back and explained to him sincerely, "Luke, thank you for helping. I see that you do care about my niece and well…"

Luke stared at him blankly and stated, "Boss I don't care if this is an apology or your blessing. The only thing I want from you once this is all over is that when we get Ellie Beth back, and I ask her to be my wife, and _when_ she says yes, you stay out of our lives."

With that, Luke left for a restless night.


	14. The Pick Up

Luke leaned against Boss's Cadillac, glancing over where he hid Davis just in case he needed to chase anyone. Boss gripped the handle to his briefcase tighter and observed Luke as he checked the time on his watch.

"It was because of that you know," Boss told him.

"Because of what?" Luke repeated.

"The watch, I arrested her for stealing the watch."

"You stole it first," he reminded Boss.

"Besides the point," Boss mumbled but then got quiet for a moment. "Where would you even live with Ellie?"

"Huh?"

"You're so sure she'd say yes to marrying you, but where would you live? On the already over crowded farm?"

"I was actually thinking the Daley property," Luke replied.

"Hmmph," Boss grumbled. "Well I own the deed to that so good luck with that."

They stayed silent until they saw two cars pulled up. Each stood up and got ready. Calbrem got out of one car and Vin stepped out of the other. Luke's eyes scanned for Ellie Beth but he couldn't see her.

"Where's EB?" Boss asked.

"Give us the money and we'll tell you," Calbrem told him.

"No, I want to see my niece!" Boss demanded.

"She's in my trunk Hogg," Vin replied. "So give him the money and make it quick."

"No, you release her!" Luke ordered.

"She's been in there an awfully long time, not sure how much more oxygen is left in there. Best to give him the money now," Vin told them. He held up the keys. "We get the moneys and you get the keys."

"Fine, fine, just don't hurt her," Boss replied and handed the briefcase to Calbrem. "A hundred thousand just like you asked."

Vin tossed Luke the keys and muttered, "Have at it lover boy."

Luke snatched the keys out of the air and quickly made his way over to the trunk as Calbrem and the rest of his men left in the second car. Vin stood by the back of the car watching him. Luke glared at him and quickly opened the trunk.

The trunk was empty and before Luke could even yell in frustration, he felt a sudden hit to the back of his head. In that moment of haziness he felt his body being shoved into the trunk and it shut before he could fight back.

He pounded and screamed, but nothing gave, he was trapped. He wondered what Vin had planned for him. Was he going to bring Luke to Ellie Beth or just get him away from other people and kill him?

The car started and the driver did not seem to care enough about the cargo in the trunk to drive carefully and slowly. Luke quickly covered his head to try and protect himself from being tossed around.

After a few minutes of driving, Luke felt the car pick up speed and start swerving more. The turns became more violent and he could feel the onset of deep bruises from hitting the wall of the trunk, over and over again. He wondered if the sudden vicious driving could be caused from Bo or Rosco chasing Vin. He hoped it was, but at the same time he knew Rosco's habit of rear-ending cars and got a little nervous.

He didn't need to be nervous for long though. The sudden fierce driving calmed down after a few minutes and transitioned into the somewhat smoother driving that had started out on the trip. He was no longer rattling around in the trunk like a quarter in a dryer. And eventually the car came to a stop.

Luke frantically searched around the dark trunk for a something he could use as a weapon. The trunk was empty; this must have been their plan along.

A bright light blinded him as the trunk open and a pair of hands pulled him out. "Alright, don't try anything ploy boy. I've got no problem shooting you."

"I know that," Luke muttered as Vin shoved him towards an old barn. "What's the point of taking me? My family ain't got any money to pay and Boss certainly won't spare a penny for me."

"It's not about money, just trying to give her what she wants," Vin told him and opened up the door to the barn. He squeezed Luke's arm tightly and held him back as the light reveled a body on the floor.

"Let go of me," he cried and fought against Vin's hold.

"Calm down, she's alive, just had a rough night," Vin replied with a smirk. "She cried for you all night, just begged for you."

Luke's fist swung at him. Vin smacked Luke across the head with the gun, sending him to the ground. He groaned and rolled over, blinking. He picked up his head and looked over at Ellie Beth. He made his way over to her and softly placed his hand on her face.

"Ellie Beth, are you alright?" he asked. He looked her over and felt sick. She was laying very still, her shirt ripped in several places, somehow she had managed to lose one shoe, her left arm was twisted and bent in an unnatural position, and her face showed the effect of Vin's fist.

"Elizabeth, please wake up," he whispered to her and picked her up in his arms.

She moaned and her eyes slowly opened. Brown confused eyes stare at him and he let out a sigh and held her tighter.

"Ow," she groaned, and Luke quickly loosened his grip.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm sore," she replied, closing her eyes.

"No stay awake, I'm going to get you out of here," he told her.

"But I'm tired. I've been fighting all night and I'm just so tired of fighting," she responded and her eyes shut again.

"Ellie Beth, no!"

He picked her up, but accidentally brushed the arm that was twisted. She screamed, a blood curdling scream, and jerked her body away. She curled up, protecting her arm, and began shaking from the pain.

"Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling next to her and gently place a hand on her non-injured arm.

"Don't touch me," she cried, jerking away from his touch.

Vin chuckled at the situation, receiving a glare from Luke. "Like I said, rough night."

"You bastard!" he yelled and flung himself at him.

Luke knocked Vin down, and punched him over and over. Vin threw up his own fist and connected with Luke's skin. Luke backed off of Vin shaking his head as regained focus. Vin stood moving his jaw and coaxed Luke. "Come on ploy boy, let's see what else you got."

Luke went at him, throwing punch after punch. Vin blocked a few and threw a couple back. They ended up in a headlock, Vin had Luke pinned, when Bo busted in and as soon as he saw his cousin in trouble he jumped in the fight.

Bo hopped on Vin's back and pulled him off of Luke. Luke regained his footing and quickly grabbed a hold of a dazed Vin and pushed him against the wall with ease.

"Get Ellie Beth and get her to a doctor," Luke ordered Bo, as he pushed Vin against the wall again. "I'll take care of him."

"Luke, Rosco was right behind me, why don't you just wait for him? It should only be a couple more minutes," Bo suggested.

"Just get her to a doctor Bo, she needs one," Luke snapped.

"And he doesn't want any witnesses," Vin commented weakly. He felt Luke's anger in his fist and knew Luke wouldn't stop till he was dead.

"Bo, just get her out of here!" Luke commanded, his arm crossing across Vin's neck, a little trick he learned in the Marine Core.

Bo sighed, and knew not to argue with Luke when he was liked this. Bo strode over to Ellie Beth and gently put his hand under non-injured arm to lift. "Come on Ellie Beth, we've got to get out of here."

Ellie Beth moaned, but tried her best to get up. She wobbled, and Bo put her arm around his neck. Together they slowly started towards the door. It turned out Ellie Beth had somehow managed to hurt her ankle too, so walking, even with Bo's help, was a struggle.

Once they were outside, Ellie Beth became slightly more coherent of what was happening. She frowned at Bo and muttered, "Bo? Where's Luke?"

"He's with Vin," Bo answered.

She reacted strangely to that. In a moment she fought against Bo's helpful hold, and attempted to go back towards the barn.

"No, no, no!" she cried and broke free, only to take a few steps and then fall down hard.

"Ellie Beth, are you okay?" Bo asked, kneeling down next to her.

"It's a trap," she stated quickly, her voice shaky from pain. "He wants to kill him."

"What?"

"Vin wants Luke dead, you have to go back in and stop him," she pleaded.

Bo glanced nervously at the barn, when Rosco's patrol car pulled up. Rosco stepped out and Bo yelled to him, "Rosco, get in the barn and stop Vin!"

Rosco nodded and rushed in. Bo tried to help her back up, but she was too weak to stand, even with his support. Bo picked her up and brought her over to the General. She was less lucid, probably from the pain, and her eyes were barely still open. Bo carefully sat her down and asked, "Ellie Beth, are you alright?"

Her head sagged and her voice was distant. "Luke? Where's Luke?"

Bo gazed over at the barn wondering the same thing, when a gunshot rang out. Ellie Beth tried to fight against the dizziness, and get out of the car, but it became too much for her. She tried, but her head dropped down and her eyes shut completely as Bo ran off to the barn.


	15. The Question

Confusion set in as Ellie Beth opened her eyes to have the sun warm her face, in a bed she did not recognize, with a cast on her arm. She glanced around the room, but could not place anything. She thought she heard the muffled sounds of people talking, so she pushed off the covers and stood up.

That was a mistake. Her ankle buckled under her and she collapsed on the bed. More carefully, she stood and slowly limped out of the room and towards the sound of voices. She stopped at the kitchen doorway, confused by the sight. Three Dukes were sitting at the kitchen table, but the one she wanted to see the most was missing.

Three sets of eyes stared at her, she gazed back, not sure if she was dreaming or not. Finally, Uncle Jesse smiled and stated, "Well, look who's finally up. How ya feeling EB?"

"Um, fine alright, Mr. Duke," she replied, but still gripped the door to the kitchen.

"Hey honey, do you want some coffee or grits?" Daisy asked, coming up to her. "You need help sitting down?"

"No, I'm okay," she repeated, but hobbled over the table anyways.

Bo gently tapped her arm and told her, "You're looking good. You can barely see the bruises."

She stared at him, with wide brown eyes.

"But you do look good, considering what you went through," Daisy told her quickly, setting down a bowl of grits in front of her and then hitting Bo. "And the bruises are hardly noticeable."

Ellie Beth just shook her head. "The last few days have been a blur, so just give me a moment."

They all nodded in agreement and went back to the remains of their breakfast. She watched them carefully as Jesse began talking about the crops to Bo. She suddenly thought back to a parallel moment she spent in jail, when on one morning her uncle called the Duke farm in front of her.

"Did Luke ever get my message?" she asked suddenly, looking straight at Jesse with a meaningful stare.

Silence followed her as they glanced at each other. Jesse was the one to ask, "What message?"

"The message about me being in jail, about all he had to do was show up and tell my uncle he wanted me," she replied, her eyes never leaving Jesse.

"We never got no message," Jesse told her.

"No!" She slammed her good fist down on the table. "I saw him. I saw Uncle Jeffie call you and tell you to tell Luke I was in jail and if your good for nothing nephew wanted me, all he had to do was come get me. I heard him on the phone with you, so I waited for Luke to come, but he never did and I want to know why!"

"Elizabeth Hogg, you calm down right now," Jesse commanded. "I know your uncle better then you think you do, and he would never lose you that easy, especially to a Duke. We never got that phone call. Luke didn't have a clue where you were, and neither did the rest of us."

"It's true," Daisy added. "Boss told Luke you had gone up to North Carolina. Luke was gonna come after you honey as soon as he could."

She shook her head and let out a chuckle. "North Carolina, really? He's still using North Carolina?"

Daisy looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"My great aunt Gwenna lives in North Carolina, and I hated her. Uncle Jeffie used to threaten to send my brother and me there if we misbehaved too much in the summer," she explained, smiling despite her mood. She glanced back at Jesse and asked, "So he never called here, did he? My uncle just played me?"

"I'm afraid so."

She sighed and finally looked down at her food. Picking up a spoon, she replied, "That's a Hogg for you. My daddy should have rolled on that fat pumpkin the second he had the chance."

Jesse laughed and commented, "You know EB, that might be the first time I think I ever heard you say anything negative about your uncle."

"I guess Luke is starting to rub off on me," she responded with a grin. "Where is Luke anyway?"

She hit a sore spot. Bo suddenly stopped shoveling food into his mouth and looked over at the phone. Daisy's eyes also traveled to the same spot, while Jesse's eyes darkened.

"We're not sure," Jesse stated. "We're waiting for Rosco to give us a call."

"Why? What's wrong? Why Rosco?" she questioned, her eyes darting around to all three Dukes, hoping one of them would give something away.

"Rosco's waiting on a phone call from the hospital to see-" Bo started, but didn't get too far once he mentioned hospital.

"What's wrong with Luke? Is he okay? How bad is he?" She probably would have kept asking questions if Daisy did not come over and gently hug her.

"Luke's okay," Daisy assured Ellie Beth. "He has a couple stitches, but he is fine. He was so worried about making sure you got taken care of he didn't even realize Doctor Applebee had started stitching him."

"Luke's okay? He's not in the hospital?" Ellie Beth clarified.

"No, he's not."

"Then where is he? Why isn't he here, especially if I'm here? I don't even know why I'm here."

"Because Luke wants you here," Jesse answered. "He made us promise to take you back to the farm and watch over you. So that's what we've been doing and you're welcome here as long as you'd like."

She smiled at the older gentleman, but there were still a couple items that confused her. "But where is Luke?"

"He's in jail," Bo stated bluntly.

"Why?"

"They're waiting on the call from the hospital to see if they can arrest Luke for manslaughter," Bo replied curtly.

"Manslaughter? Who's…" She could not bring herself to speak the word dead.

"Your buddy Vin," Bo answered the unasked inquiry. "Not dead yet, but Luke sure did do a number on him."

"Vin's in the hospital?" she repeated. "Not Luke?"

"Vin's hooked up to some machines, while Luke's waiting in jail to find out if he made it through the night," Bo explained, watching her reactions carefully.

"How bad is he? Do they think he'll recover?" she asked quietly, but Bo saw the fear in her eyes and that made him angry.

"No they don't," he spat at her. "Vin, if he does live, is never going to leave that hospital on his own."

He did not expect her to look relieved when he told her that. He thought she would appear sad or angry at the news instead she seemed almost happy. He even caught the quickest glimpse of a grateful smile before she hid it away with hands. "I think I need some air. You'll let me know if you hear anything about Luke, right?"

"Of course we will," Jesse assured her and then watched her limp out of the kitchen after she refused everyone's help. His attention then turned to his youngest nephew. "Beauregard Duke, what did you think you were doing talking to Ellie Beth like that? If she hasn't already been through enough, now you're snapping at her like it was her fault."

"I'm sorry Uncle Jesse, but I just thought…" Bo trailed off; he knew it would upset everyone.

"You thought what Bo? What was that brain of yours thinking?"

"Nothing, I was wrong anyways," Bo muttered as the door to the kitchen opened and Luke stepped in.

"That doesn't surprise me," Luke replied, grinning at his baby cousin. "What were you wrong about this time?"

"Luke!" Daisy cried and flung her arms around him.

"Ow," he groaned but returned her hug, dropping a suitcase he was carrying. "How you doing honey?"

"We're fine, but what are you doing here? Did the hospital call?" she questioned, her worried eyes never leaving his.

He shrugged. Walking over to the refrigerator he explained, "Boss came down and told me I was free to go. As I was leaving I think I heard Boss mumble something about being justifiable."

"So you don't know about the other fella?" Daisy clarified.

Luke shook his head. "Boss just told me I was free to go and gave me a suitcase for Ellie Beth." He glanced around the kitchen, looking for her. "How is she doing? Is she alright?"

"She's fine Luke," Jesse assured him. "She was up earlier and she's doing alright."

Luke nodded and pulled out a piece of meat from the freeze and wrapped it in a towel. He gently placed it against his side, receiving a knowing glance from his uncle.

"You doing alright there cuz?" Bo asked.

"Fine, he just got a couple cheap shots in," Luke informed him.

"That was going to be our dinner," Jesse told him with a grin.

Luke shrugged and replied, "It's wrapped up, it's fine."

Ellie Beth saw Luke and her heart skipped a beat. He had a few stitches over his left eye, with a matching black eye and along his jaw line was a forming bruise. The cold meat had been placed strategically over his ribs on his right side, but when he saw her he took the meat off and stood up straight. He walked over to her and smiled.

"Hey you," he greeted, carefully and tenderly placing his hand on her face, which was also bruised. "You doing okay?"

She nodded and gave him a small smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him for dear life. "Hi stranger."

He smiled and soon his arms embraced her body. Once she felt his touch, she let go of all her tears.

* * *

Bo entered the kitchen, glancing towards the living room where Luke and Ellie Beth had been, curled up together all day. "They still in there?" Daisy nodded. "What do you think they're talking about? Do you think he's…?"

Daisy shrugged. She also wanted to know if Luke still planned on asking Ellie Beth's hand in marriage. Jesse, who followed Bo in, snapped, "Stop being so nosy Bo. He'll let us know on his own."

Bo sighed and sat down, well aware his uncle was right, that he would have to wait. He didn't have to wait too long because they all heard a commotion in the living followed by yelling and the sounds of footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

"Crazy woman," Luke muttered, as he stormed in the kitchen.

"Get back here Luke!" Ellie Beth cried, and everyone heard her attempt to limp towards the kitchen.

"Stop trying to walk, you're gonna hurt yourself more," Luke told her, walking over to her.

"I'm fine," she replied, and still tried to make her way into the kitchen.

Luke sighed and quickly picked her up so she couldn't do any more damage to her ankle. He brought her into the kitchen, while she glared at him.

"Put me down, I'm fine," she ordered.

"Right, right, you're always fine," he muttered, but he gently placed her down on a kitchen chair.

"Because I am fine, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself," she replied.

"I can see that," Luke retorted, touched the cast around her arm.

"Do you want us to leave?" Jesse asked the two, who seemed not to notice them.

Luke shook his head. "No, I want witnesses. I rescued her and she's yelling at me. How does that make sense?"

"You could have been killed," she replied. "You're not indestructible Luke."

"And neither are you," he shot back.

"I can handle myself."

"Not all the time, sometimes you need help even if you are too stubborn to ask for it."

"I'm stubborn? You're as stubborn as a mule," she informed him.

"And you're as stubborn as an _old _mule," he retorted.

"An old mule? Well if am that than you should know better to try and but in all the time," she claimed.

"I should, but like you said I'm stubborn too."

"So what does that make us, two mules who don't know any better?"

"I guess so," he answered with a nod. "You know what we need to do now?"

"What?"

"Get married." Everyone stared at Luke.

A smile crept on her face. "Listen stranger, I've had a rough few last days so you better not be messing with me or I'll hurt you."

Luke grinned and dug into his pocket for the ring he had kept there for the last couple days. He knelt down and looked up smiling at her. "Elizabeth Hogg, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes Luke Duke I will," she replied, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

"Well don't you two make a good looking couple," Jesse commented as their lips broke away from each other.

"Thank you Mr. Duke," Ellie Beth responded, leaning against Luke as he wrapped an arm around her.

"I think now you can call me 'Uncle Jesse'." Ellie Beth looked extremely uncomfortable and uneasy when he said that, so he added, "Only if you want, Jesse is just fine too."

"Welcome to the family," Daisy rejoiced, hugging the two.

"Thanks sugah," Luke replied.

"Let's have a celebratory dinner tonight," Jesse suggested. "I'll make my famous crawfish bisque."

"And I can make my rhubarb pie," Daisy added.

"Sounds delicious," Ellie Beth told her.

"First let's get you cleaned up," Daisy stated, and took Ellie Beth's hand.

She glanced down and for the first time realized what she was wearing. An old dirty shirt, probably one of Bo or Luke's along with sweatpants for bottoms. She glanced up shyly and gave Luke a small smile.

"I'm sure I've got some clothes you can borrow," Daisy assured her.

"I might be able to help," Luke interjected. He picked up the suitcase and explained, "Boss gave this to me for you. I think it might be some of your clothes and belongings."

She stared at the suitcase very uneasily. Daisy grabbed it and urged, "Come on, I'll set you up in my room."

"I guess I don't have much option," Ellie Beth replied as Daisy began to lead her away. She sent a pleading glance over her shoulder towards Luke.

He laughed and gave her a reassuring nod. "I'll be in in a minute or two."

With that Ellie Beth willingly went off with Daisy. Luke turned to his younger cousin and much older uncle, and expressed with a shrug, "I'm getting married."

"As long as she doesn't sell the ring," Bo mumbled.

"Bo," Jesse snapped.

"I'm sorry, congratulations on marrying a Hogg, I'm sure that will turn out fine," Bo replied, glaring at his cousin.

"Will you give Elizabeth a chance?" Luke snapped. "She's not like that."

"Right of course. You're just too far in to see that she's exactly like all the Hoggs! Rotten down to the core."

"Luke don't!" Jesse cried as Luke took a step towards his cousin with anger in his eyes and a balled up fist.

Luke stopped and backed away, taking a deep breath. Jesse turned to an upset Bo. "Listen here Bo Duke. Luke asked Ellie Beth to marry him, so that means she's family, so you better start acting like it. And she may be born a Hogg, but she's choosing to become a Duke so that's gotta count for something."

"All right Uncle Jesse," Bo conceded. "I'll be nicer, but don't mean I have to like this engagement none."

"Thanks for the sacrifice Bo," Luke mumbled, and left to check on Ellie Beth.

He knocked on the door and heard Daisy's voice say "Enter." He peeked his head in and asked, "Everyone decent?"

"We sure are, you missed the show," Daisy informed him and opened the door.

He saw Ellie Beth sitting on Daisy's bed, dressed in her own clothes, reading something. He smiled, "You're looking better."

She nodded, but her eyes never left the page. He sat down next her and asked, "Everything okay?"

She nodded, folded up the paper and placed it back in the envelope. "It's nothing, everything okay with you?"

"Yeah fine." She gave him a Luke a look that old him to tell her the truth. Sighing, he went into detail, "It's nothing, just Bo running his mouth. Now what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I think it's just one of Uncle Jeffie's schemes," she answered. "You weren't planning on heading into town any time soon, were you?"

He shrugged and turned to Daisy. "Did you need anything from town?"

"I do, I was just gonna make a quick run, but if you want to come with me you can," Daisy offered.

Ellie Beth nodded, while Luke added, "Heck, I'll come with ya and invite Cooter to dinner."

"Alright sugah, but you better be ready to go in two minutes," Daisy warned.

"I think it will take me that long to get to the car," Ellie Beth murmured.

"Come here then," Luke told her. "Hop on my back."

"Luke, I'm not letting you carry me, I can walk perfectly fine. Besides, you're hurt."

"Oh come here you old mule," he muttered and picked her up again.

She crossed her arms and grumbled, "This is getting embarrassing."

"You'll survive," he assured her as he walked into the kitchen. He obtained quizzical glances from Bo and Jesse.

"Ya practicing son?" Jesse asked with a small smile.

"We're heading into town. I'm gonna invite Cooter to dinner, you wanna come Bo?" Luke explained.

"No," Bo retorted and quickly made himself busy.

Jesse did his best to ignore his youngest nephew's attitude. "Well, you all run along now and be quick. And Luke, pick up a pair of crutches so you don't tire your arms out carrying EB around."

"Will do sir," Luke agreed and brought Ellie Beth out to Dixie.

* * *

**A/N:** I just needed to cut the chapter here or else it would be too long. so I hope you enjoyed!


	16. Dinner

Luke made his way over to Cooter's garage. He called out, "Hey Coot."

Cooter popped his head out of his current project and smiled at him. "Howdy Lukas, glad to see you in one piece, mostly."

"Much oblige Cooter for your help yesterday."

"Nothing to it, glad to see EB back where she belongs," Cooter replied. He looked at Luke sheepishly. "I heard you found her in pretty bad shape. What happened to the other guy?"

"Got what was coming to him," Luke answered. "Hey, come to dinner tonight, we're celebrating."

"Celebrating what?"

"My engagement," Luke replied with a huge grin.

"Yeehaw!" Cooter exclaimed and jumped up to shake his hand. "You actually did it? And she said yes? When did you ask her?"

"I asked her today and for some reason, beyond me she agreed," Luke answered, still grinning.

"Well shoot, I'll be over, I've got to see this in person. How'd Boss take the news?"

"Don't know, Ellie Beth was heading over there to talk to him."

"I'm pretty sure his head is gonna explode. But boy, I would still love to see his face."

Luke agreed with a laugh. "I'll see you around six thirty then?"

"See ya then buddy. See ya and your fiancée." Cooter laughed at the word. "Luke Duke has a fiancée."

Luke shook his head and walked back over to Daisy, who was loading groceries in the car. He picked up a bag and commented, "Jeez Daisy, did you buy out the store?"

"You forget we have another mouth to feed now. I needed to stock up," Daisy informed him.

Luke sighed, remembering how small the farm was, even without an extra person. He had wanted to get a place before purposing or marrying her, but nothing went according to plan. He spotted his fiancée and smiled at the thought, his future wife. She struggled trying to climb down the courthouse stairs on crutches. Luke quickly went up to her and offered his help.

"I'm okay," she muttered with frustration.

"Are you gonna make me pick you up in front of everyone?" Luke threatened.

She smiled at him, and wrapped her arm around his neck. Together they slowly made their way down the stairs. Luke stole a couple glances back, to see Boss at the top, watching the two intently.

Once they reached the bottom, Luke helped her into the car and told her, "I'll be right back."

He sprinted up the stairs and into the courthouse. "Boss," he cried out, entering the Commissioner's office.

"What?" Boss replied, and his face turned into a grimace when he saw whom it was. "Oh you, what do you want Luke? Came here to gloat?"

"Actually Boss, I came to invite you to a dinner tonight at the farm," Luke answered.

"Dinner? Why would I want to come to dinner with you and your family?"

"Well seeing how we're gonna be family soon, I thought you'd like to come to dinner to show Ellie Beth you're making an effort to be accepting."

"Family? You asked her? And she said yes?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No, we only talked about the deed," Boss told him.

"What deed?"

"She didn't tell you?" Boss grinned evilly.

"Listen Boss, I just came in here to let you know where having a dinner to celebrate Ellie Beth and mine engagement tonight. And I think you should come."

"Ellie Beth doesn't want me there," Boss grumbled.

"Yes she does, you're her uncle," Luke replied. "The dinner is around six thirty, and," he shuttered as he said this, "I would like it if you came."

"Luke Duke, let's not play this game. You don't want me as an uncle-in-law anymore than I want you as a nephew-in-law."

"No I don't, but I love your niece so I guess I'll withstand it."

"Well we all don't have your good morals. Now get out of here before I arrest you for trespassing," Boss threatened.

Luke rolled his eyes and turned his back, knowing talking to Boss was like talking a bag of cabbage. He head towards the door when Boss called after him, "Luke, everything I've ever done for that girl was to try and protect her. I only was doing what I thought was best for her. I see now how much pain my protection caused her. Nothing I can do would make up for what happened the last few days. So I want you to take care of her now, and make sure nothing like what I put her through happens again. Ya hear me?"

Luke smiled and extended his hand. "I promise Boss, I'll take good care of her."

Boss shook his hand and then sat down. "Now get on out of here."

Smiling to himself, he made his way down to the car where two sets of female eyes were staring at him intensely.

"What was that about?" Ellie Beth asked.

"I invited him to dinner," Luke answered.

"Why?"

"'Cause he's your family," Luke replied.

"I don't want him there."

"Well, if we don't get going ya'll, there won't be a dinner," Daisy told them as she started the car.

The ride back to the farm was pleasant, quiet but pleasant. Everyone left to his or her own thoughts. Once back on the farm, Bo came out to help with the groceries and barely acknowledge Luke and Ellie Beth.

"He's not thrilled about the engagement, is he?" she asked after Bo's chilly reception.

"He just has to get used to it, that's all," Luke assured her, helping her down from the Jeep. He let her settle for a moment, but then asked the question that had been tugging at the back of his mind. "Elizabeth, when I was talking to Boss he mentioned something about a deed."

She reached in her back pocket and pulled out the envelope she had been reading all day. "It has to be a scam, I just know it. There's no way my uncle would just give away property."

There were two papers, one was a note, the other a legal looking one. He glanced at the latter, and his mouth dropped open. He was holding the deed to the Daley property and his name and Ellie Beth's name were listed as the owners.

"This says we own the old Daley place," Luke exclaimed. "It's ours, Ellie."

"It's a trick," Ellie Beth argued. "It's probably a fake deed and he'll arrest us for trespassing the second we step foot on it."

"Well you talked to him, what did he say?"

She shook her head. "He apologized."

"Boss Hogg apologized? Now I know why you don't believe it."

"He told me that he wanted me to be happy. But as far as I know, I'm still disowned. That's why I think it's a scheme."

Luke handed her the papers back. "Hey you, tonight is about us. Not your uncle, not even my uncle. It's about you and me, and the fact that we are gonna spend the rest of our lives together. Okay? We'll figure this out tomorrow, together."

She nodded, and leaned her head against his chest. "Thank you. Now come on, let's go help out with dinner."

They sat at the table, Jesse at the head of the table, Luke and Ellie Beth on one side, Bo, Daisy and Cooter on the other. Eyes focused on the empty spot, saved for Ellie Beth's uncle.

"We should start, he's not coming," Ellie Beth told them.

Jesse nodded, brought his hands together and bowed his head. Everyone else at the table followed suit and Jesse began grace. "Dear Lord, thank you for the food we are about to receive and for watching over our family. Please in your good grace continue to watch over us and our newest member, Ellie Beth. May you bless the union of Luke and EB, and grant them much more days of laughter than tears, and that their love may grow and blossom. Amen."

A chorus of "Amen"s followed him, and food was quickly dispersed and soon talk and laughter filled the small kitchen.

Ellie Beth fell back into her chair, grinning as Luke leaned back, placing his arm around her chair. Cooter, Daisy, Jesse and even Bo smiled at the two. Everyone's plate was nearly empty and pushed away, and childhood stories were being told.

"You can see why I tried to avoid this family dinner for so long," Luke said to Ellie Beth.

"Aw come on Luke, I think that was a cute story. I'm sure you looked adorable with your missing patch of hair," she assured him with a grin.

"It would have turned out fine if Bo hadn't snuck up on me," Luke replied, glaring at Bo.

Bo tossed a piece of bread at Luke. "Sure, blame me for everything cuz."

"Because it's normally you're fault," Luke shot back, dodging the bread.

"How about you Ellie, any embarrassing stories?" Bo asked, genuinely interested.

She shrugged, but Luke answered for her. "She's scared of horses. And one time, her brother, trying to pull a prank on her, blindfolded her and brought her into a barn filled with horses. Well, she screamed and a horse actually ended up kicking her brother in his face."

"What? Was he okay?" Daisy exclaimed as Cooter and Bo laughed.

"He was fine," Ellie Beth reassured her. "He deserved the broken nose. He brought me face to face with a horse. I got startled, it got startled, and hooves started flying. It's not my fault my brother couldn't duck."

Daisy started laughing, and Luke coaxed, "Ask Elizabeth what her age was."

"Luke!"

"Aw come on EB, how old were you?" Cooter asked.

She mumbled something, and Bo encouraged her, "What were you, fourteen? Younger, older?"

"Either you tell them or I will," Luke threatened.

"She was twenty-two." Every head turned towards the voice, shocked to see JD Hogg standing in the Duke's kitchen. "I hope you don't mind, I let myself in."

"Well sure JD, as long as you're not here to try and take the farm or arrest someone, you're welcome," Jesse told him, standing up to greet his old friend with a handshake. "'Side," Jesse and Boss looked at their respected kin in each other's arm, "we're almost family now."

"So I hear," Boss replied, unable to keep looking at the couple.

"Would you like any coffee Boss? We were just about to start dessert," Daisy told him.

"You've got perfect timing, huh Uncle Jeffie?" Ellie Beth teased with a smile.

"No thank you Daisy, I didn't come out here for food," Boss replied.

"So what brings you out here JD?" Jesse asked.

"Came to see if Ellie Beth changed her mind about the deed," Boss answered.

"Deed, what deed?" Bo asked, eye Ellie Beth suspiciously.

"That again," she mumbled and rolled her eyes.

"Boss how do we know the deed's on the up and up?" Luke asked.

"What deed?" Daisy and Bo exclaimed.

"Do you really think I want my niece living in this small, over crowded farm? She deserves better than that and you, but-"

"Why do you have to start with that Uncle Jefferson? I told you I'm happy, can't that be enough for you? If you don't like it you don't have to be part of it," Ellie Beth cried.

"I think you deserve better than him, but as long as you're happy and this is what you want, who am I to stand in your way?" Boss replied. "And as a good will gesture I promise the deed will be all legal like, and no strings attached."

"JD, whatcha talking about, what deed?" Jesse questioned.

"Well, all Luke and Ellie Beth have to do is sign the deed to the Daley house and it's theirs. Consider it an engagement present," Boss explained.

"That you'll hold over our heads," she shot back. "I know how you operate."

"It's a rundown shack, not the governor's mansion. That property wasn't making me any money anyways. And giving it as a gift is a tax write off," Boss informed her. "Under one condition though."

"So much for the no strings," Luke muttered. "What is it Boss?"

"Ellie Beth won't be living with you till you're married. I won't have my niece living in sin as long as I have a spare room," Boss told them.

"I think that sounds fair," Jesse agreed. He didn't need this turning into a shotgun wedding.

Luke nudged, and asked, "Sow what do you think Elizabeth?"

"This means you really have to marry me now," she responded.

"I think I'd be okay with that. Where do we sign Boss?"

Boss pulled out some papers and a pen. He laid them flat on the table and circled the spots. "You sign here, Ellie signs there and then I sign and it's final."

Boss held out the pen. Ellie Beth took it and glanced uneasily at Luke. He grinned at her and whispered, "Imagine our son running around the backyard."

She smiled and signed. Luke followed suit and then handed everything back to Boss. He took in the two and frowned. Sighing as he initialed, he stated, "I guess my little Cinnabon is all grown up."

"Oh Uncle Jeffie," she sighed, stood up and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you."

"Well let's celebrate!" Daisy cried. "I'll get the rhubarb pie."

"Rhubarb pie?" Boss repeated. "Maybe I will sit down and have a little slice."

"Sure thing Boss," Daisy replied with a grin.

"Make sure it's a big one Daisy," Jesse told her, and everyone shared a laugh.

_Well folks, that's the story of how Ellie Beth Hogg and Luke Duke winded up together. Things sure do change quickly, in Hazzard County.

* * *

_**A/N:** So this is the first ending of the story. On Monday I will be uploading the alternative ending, which is a couple chapters long. It starts following chapter 12. See ya'll on Monday.


	17. Ch 13 Family Support

**A/N: **I hope everyone who celebrated Easter had a wonderful one! This is my alternative ending to the story, it starts place after ch. 12 so if it might be helpful to go back and review it. Enjoy and let me know what you think!**  
**

* * *

Bo and Daisy sat at the bar in the Boar's Nest, each wondering what had become of their cousin. Luke had not return to the farm yet, it was almost two in the afternoon, and he kept silent on the CB. Jesse had sent them into town to see if they could get word of Luke or Ellie Beth, but it seems that no had seen either of them since yesterday. So they ended their search at the Boar's Nest, each lost in their own thoughts.

"He asked her," Bo stated uneasily. "I mean, he had to right? That's why he's not back yet."

Daisy shook her head. "I don't know Bo. Maybe, but even if he did I still don't think he'd be gone this long."

Bo shrugged. "I wish he would just let us know what happened."

"He will, soon enough he will," Daisy assured him, rubbing his back lovingly.

He just nodded and the two fell quiet again. Bo's eyes were on the bar floor, but Daisy had been staring off and noticed her before Bo.

"Ellie Beth," Daisy cried and tapped Bo on the arm.

He glanced up and saw what Daisy saw. Ellie Beth was in the bar, and once she saw those two she made a beeline for her uncle's office. In a second she found her way blocked by the two.

"How'd it go?" Daisy asked, excitedly.

"Is Luke with you?" Bo questioned.

"Oh really funny Duke," she snapped and pushed her way through them.

Bo caught her left hand and stared intently at it. He held up the hand to show Daisy. "Look, no ring."

"Really?" Daisy exclaimed with a smile and also tried to look at Ellie Beth's hand. "He didn't ask her."

She snatched her hand away from them. She stepped away from them, but then their words sunk in. Turning back to them she asked, "What about a ring?"

Daisy saw the pain in her eyes and knew things had not gone her way last night. Bo had opened his mouth to answer her, but a quick hit from Daisy shut it again. Ellie Beth rolled her eyes and turned away from them, but then quickly whipped around again.

"You know, you Dukes are all high and mighty, thinking you're noble and such, but really y'all ain't any better than us Hogg. At least we're up front about our dishonesty, we don't try to trick you and make you think we're good people," she went off on them. Bo noticed that as she got angrier, her southern accent became stronger. "Ah grew up hearing that ya Dukes were supposed to tolerant and friendly, but what a load of crock! But ya reckon what Ah think? Y'all just too big for yer own britches."

"Hey, you can't talk to us like that!" Bo cried.

She stormed up to him and pushed him with her finger. "Oh yes Ah can Duke. You don't have any say in my life, at all. None of ya do. If Ah had been smart Ah would have listened to my uncle and left yer good for nothing cousin when Ah found out he was a Duke. A name doesn't change anything my ass."

She waltzed over to the door to her uncle's office, the two Dukes staring at her flabbergasted. Her hand traced the doorknob, and she turned her attention back to them. "And when ya see yer good for nothing cousin let him know Ah took a job in Chickasaw. Let him know that, and that he can keep his goddamn ring and all that goes with it."

With that she slammed the door to the office.

Bo and Daisy winced at the sound and realized all eyes were on them. Bo shooed them with his hand and called out, "Alright, show's over. Get back to your own business."

It took a few moments, but soon the people of the Boar's Nest went back to what they were doing before Ellie Beth chewed them out. Bo turned to Daisy smiling. "He didn't ask her Daisy!"

"I figured that Bo," Daisy replied coldly.

"What's wrong? We should be excited we're not gonna have a Hogg in the family,"

"She's clearly upset and you're happy about it."

"Yes I am, no Hoggs in the family tree," he reminded her.

"I want to know what happened because she was really upset. I wonder what Luke said."

"Let's see if we can raise him on the CB now and find out," Bo suggested and she nodded in agreement.

They hurried out to Dixie and Daisy picked up the handset. "Little Bo Peep, calling Lost Sheep, come in Lost Sheep."

They waited a moment, but no answer. "I repeat, Little Bo Peep calling Lost Sheep, please come in sugar."

After another minute of silence, Bo took the handset and called out, "Dang it Luke, it's Bo. Now come in so we can talk and make sure you're okay. We know about Ellie Beth and I think you dodged a bullet cousin. Now come in, Daisy and Uncle Jesse are getting worried."

Simultaneously, they prayed together for a reply, but never got one.

"'Dodged a bullet'? Where does a Duke get off saying I'm a bullet," Ellie Beth cried, kicking a chair when she heard Bo on her uncle's CB. "I'm probably the best thing that happened to that _yokel_."

"EB, clam down," Boss tried, but she was off in her own world.

"I mean I cared about him, really cared about him and he's too much of a chicken to show up," she explained to no one in particular, she just needed to say it. "I thought I meant more to him than that."

"Ellie Beth, he's a fool," Boss attempted again, but she still wasn't listening.

"So what was the last year and three months to him? Apparently it was a waste of time for me. I mean he told me a name shouldn't change how you feel about someone. And well, I guess that just makes him a giant hypocrite."

"Elizabeth!" Boss roared, finally forcing her attention away from her rant. "I told you those Dukes were no good, didn't I?" She nodded. "Well we all make mistakes when we're young. The important thing is you learned and you're never going near those Dukes again, right?" She shook her head. "Good girl. So did I hear you correct when you said you would take the Chickasaw County job?"

She took a gulp and nodded. "All I have to do is drop the packages off at Calbrem's place, right? Who's the other driver, Vin?"

"No, Vin's not responding to my calls," Boss stated confided.

"But he didn't have any other jobs lined up, shouldn't he be free?" she questioned.

"He's just not responding, alright Ellie?" Boss snapped at her.

"Alright, alright, I guess I can't please any man," she mumbled. "What time do you want me to start?"

"Oh Ellie Beth, I have a surprise for you," Boss told her.

"What is it?"

"Come with me and you'll find out," Boss replied with a grin.

When Bo and Daisy didn't hear back from Luke they called Uncle Jesse and determined something had to be wrong. Jesse's big toe throbbed all night and morning, and it worried everyone they couldn't reach Luke. They were hoping he was just hiding out at Cooter's so they started there.

Bo and Daisy pulled into Cooter's garage, hopping out they quickly stormed in the garage. Bo glanced around, hoping he'd see Luke sitting around with his old friend. Instead the Dukes only saw Cooer with the Hoggs.

"What do you two want?" Boss asked, sneering at the two.

Bo ignored him and asked Cooter, "Have you seen Luke at all?"

"Not since yesterday," Cooter replied. "And I sure could have used some help around here."

"Well Davis looks great Cooter," Ellie Beth told him, sling her arms around him and kissing his cheek. "You really are magic, I thought Davis was gone for good."

"Have a little faith, you'd be surprise what two world class mechanics can do," he responded, grinning at her.

"Two?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Cooter, Luke's missing, are you sure you haven't seen him or heard from him?" Bo tried again.

"He's not missing, he's just hiding out like a little coward," Boss Hogg commented with a huff.

"Where were you going to meet Luke yesterday?" Daisy asked Ellie Beth directly.

"None of your business," she snapped. "And it doesn't matter, he wasn't there."

"But what if he got into an accident on the way there? Just tell us where so we can check the roads for him, please," Daisy argued.

"He's a good driver, he wasn't in an accident," Ellie Beth shot back.

"What if he is hurt? Please, just tell us," Daisy pleaded.

"Come on EB, let's go," Boss beckoned. "Get Davis and meet me back at the Boar's Nest."

"I'm sure Luke's fine," Ellie Beth assured her coldly and stepped towards her car. As she tugged against unyielding door a smile crept across her face as she whispered, "Luke." Louder, she told them, "The Daley place. That was our spot. He used to come using route sixty-four."

"Thank you," Daisy replied, stepping forward and embracing her. It was her voice that made Daisy hug her. Ellie Beth's voice was soft and sweet, but sick with pain. Daisy knew Ellie Beth was hurting, despite how little she showed it.

"I do love him," Ellie Beth whispered into Daisy's ear, her voice expressed held back tears.

"I'm sorry," Daisy told her.

Ellie Beth pulled away and smiled sadly at her. "You should go find your cousin and I should go back to my uncle."

With that, she hopped into her car just like she had seen Luke do so many times before.

Daisy and Bo scanned the roads towards the Daley place. No sign of the General or an accident, so at least that was something. They stopped at the Daley place and looked around. There were tire tracks, but neither one knew how old they were. Searching around for a clue, Bo suddenly cried out and Daisy ran over to him.

"What is it sugar?" she asked, but gasped as she saw Bo pushing back some branches to reveal an abandoned General. They both knew if the General was left unattended, something happened.

Luke groaned and shook his head. Trying to move, he felt the rope bindings against his wrists. His eyes popped open and he frantically fought against the restraints. Twisting his body around, he tried to slither out of the rope that held his hands behind his back, the rope that pin downed his body to his chair, and tried to kick out of the ropes immobilizing his legs. He only stopped moving when a cool metal sharp edge pressed under chin and forced his head up. Staring down at him with a smile stood Vin. "Mornin' plow boy."


	18. Ch 14 Let's Do Lunch

**A/N:** Sorry, school and work have been crazy. Sorry for the late update! Enjoy!  


* * *

"JD Hogg!!" Jesse roared, storming into Boss Hogg's back office at the Boar's Nest, followed by his niece and nephew. "Where's my boy? What have ya done with him?"

Boss and Ellie Beth stared at the intruders, too shocked to respond to the sudden outburst. Boss sputtered, but eventually spat out, "Jesse Duke, you can't just come barging in my office, yelling your head off at me."

"JD, what have ya done with Luke?" Jesse demanded to know.

"Nothing, I didn't do a thing to your good for nothing nephew," Boss replied with a sneer, but in a sweet voice.

"Don't you try that on me JD, I know yer habits. Now tell me what ya had done with Luke."

"I would never do anything to your nephew," Boss defended.

"Right, like ya never did anything to Eddie Thomson."

Ellie Beth stood up suddenly and shoved her finger in Jesse's face. "Eddie left town on his own free will. My uncle didn't chase him out of town like all you busy body, gossip-whispering biddies said he did."

"EB, go outside and load the car up," Boss told her, placing a hand on her arm, guiding her finger away from Jesse's face.

"But Uncle Jeffie," she began, but he stopped her kindly.

"Go ahead, it will be fine," he assured her, and she stalked away from the group. She went out the back, but kept the door open a crack so she could still listen.

"Jesse, you've know me a long time now, I'm a good ole boy underneath this white suit," Boss started.

"But I know if it meant protecting your niece you're capable of anything," Jesse interrupted. "Now where is Luke?"

"I didn't do anything to Luke," Boss informed him.

"Bo and Daisy found the General at the Daley place, hidden away in the bushes like someone didn't want it seen. So what's going?"

"Maybe Luke just took a walk, ever think of that?"

"Luke wouldn't leave the General," Bo interjected.

"I don't know what happened to Luke," Boss assured them.

"Yer lyin' and yer feet don't match!" Jesse cried.

"I didn't have a thing to do with Luke's disappearance," Boss shot back.

"You better not because if I found out ya messed with my boy JD, I'll be back her and not even yer paid off sheriff can save ya," Jesse warned and then left with his family.

Ellie Beth quickly shut the door, and went over to her car. They had found the General, but no Luke. A small smile found its way on her face as she realized Luke had been there, at least for a little while. But where was he now?

Ellie Beth headed for town, wondering that same question over and over. Pulling up next to Frank, who clutched a brown paper bag, she stepped out and greeted, "Hello Frank. Whatcha got in the bag?"

He gripped the paper bag tighter and mumbled, "It's nothing."

Quickly, she snatched the bag out of his hand and looked in. "A couple sandwiches, and some chips. You plan on going on a picnic Frank?"

"It's not for me, it's for-" He stopped short, and she knew something had to be going on.

"Who's it for? Me?"

"No, just give it back to me EB. I need to go drop it off," Frank told her, reaching for the bag.

"Load your car first," she ordered, and set the bag of food down in her car.

Together they loaded his car, but he noticed something was off. "Why do I have all the boxes? I thought I was only supposed to get half."

"Because you're going to run the job and I'm going to go drop the food off for you," she explained lightly.

"EB, you can't," Frank began, but when he stepped towards her, she grabbed him and pushed him on the ground.

Placing a heel on his chest, she asked, "Who gets the food?"

"Vin," he replied.

Placing a little more pressure on his chest, she asked, "Where's Vin?"

"I was told not to tell you."

"Frank, I'm getting really annoyed right now about not being included."

"The old sawmill," he answered quickly and the foot let up.

"Thanks," she called out as she hurried to her car.

Heading over to the sawmill she slowed down a little, wondering what she was doing. Did she really think her uncle would do something to Luke? And do something to the extreme of sending Vin after him?

No. She shook her head and refused to think that. She would go out to the sawmill, and prove Vin and her uncle had nothing to do with Luke's disappearance. Still would it hurt to let the Dukes know that there was a possibility?

"Any of ya Dukes got yer ears on?" she called out on the CB.

In a moment, Bo responded, "This is Bo Duke here. Who's this?"

"EB."

"What do you want?"

"I'm not saying that my uncle had anything to do with Luke being missing, but one of his men is apparently camped out at the old sawmill. It could be worth it to check it out."

The radio waves were silent for a few moments. "Is this a trap?"

"No. I'm just trying to help."

"Why?"

"Oh forget it," she snapped and threw down the handset. The radio waves remained silent the rest of her drive to the sawmill.

Luke had being fighting the rope bounding his hands together all day, but the only thing he got from that was raw wrist. Looking around, he tried to spot anything he could use to cut the ropes. They were in the back office of some abandoned building, and there was nothing in reach of his chair. He glanced over at Vin, who reclined in his chair, sipping on lemonade in one hand, playing with Luke's knife in his other hand. Luke's throat was dry, trying to figure out when the last time he ate was.

Luke made a noise against his gag, grabbing Vin's attention. "What do ya want?"

Luke made some more noise and Vin pulled down the gag. "Can I get some water or something?"

"Oh sure," Vin replied and poured a cup of lemonade. He brought the cup over and tossed it in Luke's face.

"Why don't you let me out of these ropes and we'll finish this like real men?" Luke suggested, shaking off the drops of liquid off his face, glaring at the other man.

"I would, but I might end up killing you, and Boss Hogg told me no killing," Vin replied with a grin.

That peaked Luke's interest. "So Boss is behind this?"

"Sorta. He wanted me to go to that run down shack, mess you up a little and just scare you off. But then I thought, wouldn't it be better if she thought you never showed? So instead of messing you up, I brought you here. And Boss doesn't know a thing about it. And now poor little EB will be heartbroken and oh so vulnerable, taking advantage of her would be easy as pie," Vin explained. "She's gonna need a shoulder to cry on and by the time I get done with her she's gonna be saying 'Luke who?'"

Luke pushed as far as he could against his restraints, seeing red. "You go anywhere near her and you're a dead man!"

"Ha, what are you going to do? Talk me to death? I can fix that." Vin replaced the gag. He tightened the cloth as the sound of a car interrupted the silence. "That would be lunch. If you're good maybe I'll give ya my crumbs."

"Hey Vin, you in here?" a clearly female voice called out.

Vin smiled as Luke's eyes grew wide and he struggled even harder to escape. Clasping Luke's shoulder, Vin whispered, "I guess she needs that shoulder."

Luke kept fighting to get free as Vin walked out the office door, leaving it open a crack so the prisoner could hear everything.

"Hiya EB," Vin greeted. "Whatcha doing here?"

"Dropping off your lunch."

"No Frank?"

"I'm having him run the job in Chickasaw."

"I'd just thought you'd be off with that hick," Vin commented innocently.

"Right, like Uncle Boss didn't tell you," she replied.

"No, what happened?"

"Luke never showed," she answered with a shrug.

"Really? What an idiot," Vin told her. "You're a great girl EB, it's his loss."

"Who are you and what have you done with Vin?" she responded with a laugh.

"No, I'm serious EB. He's an idiot for not showing up."

"You know, I was not expecting this kind of reaction from you. I thought for sure you'd laugh at me."

"No, I'm sorry about it. Do you know what happened?"

"He just never showed." Luke could tell by her tone she didn't trust him. "You know, the Dukes even have this crazy notion that my uncle had something to do with it. That's crazy, right?"

"Yeah, crazy," Vin quickly agreed.

"Well I should get going and let you enjoy your lunch in peace," she told him and headed towards the door.

"You know, there are two sandwiches in here, you could stay," Vin replied, chasing after her.

Luke could see their bodies through the crack as Vin grabbed Ellie Beth's arm stopping her. "We could even start with dessert."

"I don't think Frank sent a dessert," she stated, looking down at where he grabbed her. Luke saw her try to take a step back but Vin held on to her arm.

"Oh yes he did," Frank replied, pulling her closer to his body. He wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her secure despite her attempts to push away from him. He pushed his lips against hers, muffling her scream.

Luke screamed against the gag, and pulled as hard as he could against his restraints, but nothing gave.

"Vin stop," she cried, finally managing to squirm away from his grasps.

"What? This is what you want," he stated, grabbing her elbow firmly so she couldn't escape again.

"No! Vin please, let go of me," she responded, fear in her voice.

"You came here to see me, you want this just as bad as I do," he told her, lost in his delusion.

"No, no! That's not true."

"Then why are you here if it's not for me?" he asked, squeezing her arm tighter.

"Vin please, let go of my arm. You're hurting me." Her voice shook with panic.

"No, no, no!" he roared, pulling their bodies closer again. "You're here for me, for this."

When she saw his lips getting closer she blurted out, "I'm here for Luke."

"What?" Vin growled, squeezing harder.

"I came here to see if you had Luke," she repeated.

"Bitch," he muttered and tossed her to the ground.

She groaned and glanced up at him. "Vin, I'm sorry."

Bending over, he grabbed her arm forcefully and asked, "You want to see him?" He pulled her up, despite her yelp of pain and dragged her to the office. Pushing open the door, he shoved her towards Luke. "There, enjoy."

"Luke," she cried and ran to him. Pulling down the gag, she gave him a big kiss. Her hands moved swiftly down to the rope around his wrist and her fingers frantically worked the knot. It felt like it was about to give when she felt Vin's hands around her waist, pulling her away from Luke.

"Ellie," Luke called, squirming in his chair. He needed to get free; she was being hurt and needed him.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, scratching at the arm around her waist.

"I let you see him, isn't that enough?"

"Leave her alone!" Luke ordered. "It's me you have the problem."

"Shut the hell up," Vin roared, grabbing the knife and pointing it at Luke.

"Vin! Don't, put the knife down and listen to me," she pleaded. "You can still leave and it will all be okay. You can just leave, leave Luke and me here, and take Davis even if you need to. I promise if you leave, nothing's gonna happen to you. I'll make sure of it, you just have to leave, it's that simple."

Vin looked her over, and repeated, "If I leave nothing's gonna happen?" She nodded. "Then I should make the most of my time left here."

His hand traveled down to her shirt, lifting it up as she bucked against his touch. "Vin, stop! Please stop!!"

He no longer listened to her terrified pleas, his hands roaming wherever they pleased. But she squirmed too much for him to fully enjoy it. Placing the knife down and grabbing the extra rope off the table he told her, "Let's go have some real fun."

Kicking and screaming, he dragged her out of the back office, slamming the door.


	19. Ch 15 Still a Rose

Sorry, this chapter took much longer then expected to write. Hope you enjoy it!  


* * *

Bo sighed, and stared the CB for the hundredth time. Something in his gut told him he had to listen to Ellie Beth, but his mind kept warning him it was a trap. He picked up the CB and called out, "Lost Sheep to Little Bo Peep, you out there?"

"I'm here Bo, did you find Luke?" Daisy asked quickly.

"No, but I'm gonna go check up by the old sawmill, and if you don't hear back from me in thirty, go get Enos, okay?"

"Why, what's at the sawmill?" she questioned.

"Hopefully nothing, but just promise if you don't hear back from me you'll get Enos."

"Alright sugah, but be safe," Daisy pleaded.

"Will do, I'm out," Bo told her and then quickly whipped the General around, hoping he wasn't heading straight into a trap.

"Vin, stop!" Luke could hear Ellie Beth's screams through the door. They fueled him as he pulled against the ropes, trying to break free. He could feel the rope burn against his skin as it agitated him. He pulled as hard as he could but the ropes only buried into his flesh and he could feel it break the skin.

He groaned and relaxed his hands. Glancing around, he looked for something to cut the ropes with. He just needed something.

There was a loud crash and painful moan. He heard Vin mumble something and then a quick yelp from Ellie Beth. Luke groaned, as he pulled against the ropes one more time. His legs broke free, but the bounds against wrist tightened and broke his skin barrier.

The door to the office flew open and Vin stood in the doorway. Their eyes met and Vin smirked. He moved calmly over to the table, picking up the knife. Luke stared wordlessly at him. Vin just pointed the knife towards the door and Luke's eyes traveled that way.

Ellie Beth's hands were tied above her head, her arms working frantically to make the rope come undone. Her shorts were flung across the room and her shirt had been pushed up. She turned her head and her eyes found Luke's.

"Elizabeth," he whispered. His head snapped back to Vin. "Leave her alone! It's me you have the problem with, don't touch her."

Vin just shook his head and walked towards Ellie Beth. He dropped to the ground and his hand ran down Ellie Beth's leg.

Whimpering, she begged, "Vin, please don't. Please stop."

Yanking her legs open, he pressed his body against her. The knife ripped her shirt open and she let out a cry as she felt the air on her exposed skin. His hands roamed her body and squeezed anything he wanted. Luke, forced to watch, pulled against his restraints again, wishing he could break free and inflect as much pain as possible on Vin as Vin's hands traveled down to her underwear.

"Vin please don't do this," Ellie Beth pleaded as she felt his fingers run across the edge of her underwear. Tears broke her voice as the sense of hopelessness and despair set in. She could not fight back, she had lost.

"Don't worry," Vin told her, holding her face still so he could kiss her. "It will be over soon enough."

With the kiss his hand slipped under the cotton barrier and she screamed against his touch.

Luke lounged at Vin. He did not care that his hands were still tied behind his back or that the chair was still strapped to his back. He just wanted Vin off of Ellie Beth.

Tackling Vin, Luke brought both of them to the ground and broke the chair. Groaning and shaking off the shattered shards of chair, Luke sat up. He glanced over at Ellie Beth, and let out a breath of relief.

The jolt loosened the ropes around his wrist and he managed to scrape his wrist loose. He winced as he gazed over his bleeding wrist but then made his way over to Ellie Beth.

"Hey honey," he greeted, smiling at her and working at the rope around her wrist.

"I'm so sorry," she started, but Luke stopped her.

"Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry about," he told her and got the rope off her wrist. He quickly worked at the buttons of his shirt and shook it off. Helping her sit up, he slipped his shirt on her and cupped her face. "You alright?"

She nodded, but Luke could feel her shaking. She looked over his body and shook some more. There was a red line across his torso from where the rope had held him in place and his wrists were cut and irritated. She whispered, "Luke…"

He knew how bad his wrists looked, he could even feel it, but he would never let her know that. Stroking her cheek, he assured her, "It's alright, I'm fine. Come on, we need to get you out of here."

He tried to help her stand up, but her legs would not move. Kneeling besides her, he stroked her hair and encouraged, "Listen Elizabeth, you've got to work with me and get up."

She did not seem to hear him, instead she looked past him and cried, "Luke!"

He turned around to see Vin coming at him with a shard of wood. He stood quickly, but could not stop Vin in time as he felt the weapon connect with his head and his body dropped to the floor.

Luke struggled to open his eyes as he heard the fight unfold before him. He could hear Ellie Beth's screams and Vin grunts. He wanted nothing more but to open his eyes and get up to protect her, but he couldn't even get his eyes to open for more than a few seconds.

A body fell to the ground. Luke could hear the weight collapse to the floor and panic forced is eyes open. The world was still blurry and unclear but he knew the sound of repeating blows. Groaning and trying to focus his vision, Luke called, "Ellie Beth."

The sounds stopped. Luke attempted to sit up even though lying down the world still spun. His arms gave out and he was laying flat again as he heard a body walk over to him.

He blinked as Ellie Beth whispered, "Luke!" and dropped down next to him.

Opening his eyes, he smiled as his Elizabeth came into focus. Slowly, using up his strength, he raised his hand and touched her face. She frowned as her hand gingerly touched his temple, right below where he had been cut by the wood.

"You're bleeding," she told him simply and searched around for something to put on the wound. She found a piece of clothing and quickly pressed it to his head and wiped away the excess blood.

He smiled up at her and whispered softly, "Elizabeth."

She looked away from him and asked, "Do you think you can hold this here? I have to go call for help."

"Don't go," he told her, grabbing weakly on to her wrist.

"I have to," she replied quietly.

"Don't leave," he pleaded, looking up at her with wide blue eyes. "I love you."

The sound of a car door, kept her from responding. Panic stirred in her stomach, she had no way to explain this situation, a nearly unconscious Luke and a definitely unconscious Vin, only with her, half naked with Luke's shirt covering her. Her eyes watched the door, ready to start another fight if she needed it, when Bo walked through the door. She had never been so grateful to see him.

"Bo, over here," she cried.

"What's going on?" Bo asked, walking over and seeing Vin out cold on the ground. He then spotted Luke and quickly ran over. "Luke! Are you alright?"

"Bo," Luke replied, not turning his gaze away from Ellie Beth. His hand never left Ellie's wrist.

"What happened to ya cousin?"

"Ellie Beth, marry me," Luke whispered, his voice weak.

"Luke, we have to get you to town," she replied, trying to pry off his hand.

"Mary me," he repeated, his eyes slowly shutting.

"Luke stay awake," Bo demanded.

"I'm trying Bo," Luke mumbled, forcing his eyes open again.

"Bo, can you hold this here while I go call for help?" she asked.

Bo nodded and quickly took her place of holding the piece of clothing to his wound. Luke's grip tightened. "Ellie Beth, don't leave."

"I'll be right back," she promised and slipped her hand away.

Bo watched her walk away, realizing what she was wearing and that what he was pressing to Luke's head looked like the shirt she had been wearing earlier that day. "What happened here cousin?"

"Bo, Vin took the ring," Luke muttered.

"What?"

"Get the ring, Bo. Vin took it from me. He put it in his pocket. Get the ring and give it to Ellie," Luke told him.

"Luke, don't worry about that now," Bo replied. "She's gone to call for help."

"Bo, please get the ring," Luke asked pleadingly.

Bo sighed, but nodded. He placed Luke's hand to hold the rag in place and made his way over to Vin. Bo glanced over Vin. He did not look too good, his face paler then it should be and he was even bleeding too. Bo couldn't tell if he was even still breathing.

Reaching into Vin's pocket, Bo found the box right as Ellie Beth snapped, "What are you doing?"

Bo pulled out the box and answered, "I was checking on him, he doesn't look too good."

"He doesn't matter," she told him, staying in the doorframe. "How's Luke?"

Bo scurried over to his cousin and checked. Luke was still conscious, just barely. "Hey Bo, did you get it?"

"Yeah cuz, how you doing?"

"Where's Ellie?" he replied.

"Bo, do you think you can get him to Hawkins Crossing? Doc Applebee can meet you there," Ellie Beth mentioned.

"Luke you think you can stand up?" Bo asked, trying to help him up.

"Make sure she gets the ring," Luke reminded Bo, struggling to sit up.

"A little help here," Bo called over to Ellie Beth.

She hurried over and together they lifted Luke and made it out to the General. As they eased Luke in Bo asked, "What about Vin?"

"Don't worry about him, just get Luke out of here," she answered.

"What about you?"

"I'm fine, you two should go," she replied.

"Elizabeth," Luke mumbled.

"Come with us," Bo suggested.

She shook her head and took a step back from the car. Bo stepped towards her and held out the box. "He wants you to have this, so come with us."

She shook her head again, refusing to take the box from him. "Doc's waiting, you should go."

"Ellie Beth, please come with us or meet us back at the farm," Bo urged, forcing her to take the box.

"Sure," she replied in a low voice. They both knew she wouldn't.

Bo slipped into the General and started heading towards Hawkins Crossing. Luke groaned and turned his head towards Bo. "Where's Ellie?"

Bo did not have the heart to tell his cousin the truth so he lied, "She's meeting us back at the farm."

"Good," he mumbled and slowly shut his eyes. Bo speed all the way to Hawkins Crossing.

There was an eerie silence when Luke opened his eyes. Back in his own bed, he looked around trying to figure out what was out of place, for starters, no Bo. He sat up and shook his head, trying to make better sense of the morning. Looking down he saw white bandages around his wrists. He groaned and pushed himself off his bed.

The softest murmur of voices drifted from the kitchen. Trudging towards the sound, he smiled at his Uncle Jesse and Daisy sitting at the table, sipping coffee. "Morning ya'll."

"Luke!" Daisy cried and leaped up to embrace her cousin.

"How you feeling son?" Jesse questioned, watching his oldest nephew walk a tad bit slower than normal.

"Just a little sore," Luke replied, itching at his left elbow. He rolled up the sleeve to his older shirt and was surprised to see a small Band-Aid there. He shot a confused look at his uncle.

Jesse answered his question, "Doc said you was dehydrated and had to give some fluids while you were unconscious. You slept right through the night but Doc said that would be the body's normal response to the situation."

"Where's Bo?" Luke replied, trying to remember everything that had happened the day before.

"He'll be back soon enough," Jesse told him. "He went into town to get some things."

Luke nodded and sat down at the table. Without even asking, Daisy brought him a plate of food. He smiled his thanks and dug in. Two bites in, he suddenly stopped, remembering something. "Elizabeth!"

"Luke, it's okay," Daisy stated, wrapping her arms around Luke's shoulders. "Bo went into town to make sure she's okay. And as soon as Bo's back and you've finished eating and get dressed we can head into town so you can see her."

"Alright," he agreed and continued eating.

Bo walked into the kitchen, his head hung. He greeted quietly, "Hi ya'll."

"Bo, how'd things go in town?" Jesse asked the question Luke wanted to hear.

Bo sighed, sat down across from Luke at the table and answered, "Ellie Beth wasn't at Boss Hogg's. She wasn't anywhere in town."

"What? What happened to her?" Luke asked, eyes wide with worry.

"From what I heard is yesterday she and Boss got into a big fight and whether she was kicked out or stormed out ain't clear, but Miss Tizdale saw Ellie leave Boss' home with a suitcase and drove out of town. And Miss Tizdale or any of the other nosy bodies in town haven't seen her since. I asked all around town but no one knew what happened to her," Bo explained. "I'm sorry Luke, I just can't find her."

"We have to go, we have to start searching for her," Luke cried, standing suddenly only to have to grip on to the chair to stay steady.

"Dang it Luke, what do you think I've been doing?" Bo snapped. "I've been all over Hazzard County, searching Boss' old stills sites, the Daley Place, even the old sawmill again. I've even gone to Rosco for help! I've been everywhere and tried everyone! She doesn't want to be found if she's still in Hazzard."

"No, I'll find her, I've got to," Luke decreed, heading out the door.

"Luke get back here!" Daisy yelled after him. His family followed him as Daisy hollered, "What good are you gonna do her if you're passed out?"

Daisy stopped short along with everyone else as their focus went to the green Dodge Coronet that Luke had poured his heart and soul into fix as the driver stood next to it, her stare just as intense as theirs.

"Elizabeth," Luke breathed and hurried to her.

He was going to embrace her, she saw this and quickly put her hand out, holding his shirt. "I brought you back your shirt," she stated quickly, stopping any contact between him and her.

"We'll head inside and give ya'll some privacy," Jesse told them, grabbing his two younger children and forcing them inside.

The two stared at each other. Luke took a step towards her and she didn't step away, but didn't embrace him either.

"Are you okay?" he asked, touching her cheek gently.

"I'm fine," she murmured, pulling away from his touch. When she bent her head, he could see the bruises on her neck. She took a step away from him and began walking slowly around the farm. Luke walked with her, wondering what to say.

"I had a fight with JD," she stated suddenly. He nodded, hoping silence would compel her to expand. "It was about working for him. And the people who work for him. I can't do it anymore Luke. I always had a bad feeling about Vin, but I never said anything because he always got the job done."

"Elizabeth," Luke tried to hold her but she pulled away from him.

"I might have killed him Luke," she confessed, tears building up. "I couldn't stop hitting him. He was unconscious and I kept hitting him over and over. I couldn't even call for an ambulance for him. I waited for a while to even call Rosco to come out to the sawmill. Luke, he was in bad shape."

"Elizabeth, it's alright," Luke told her, wrapping his arms around her and not letting her escape. "I was ready to kill him. I still want to kill him. You did nothing wrong."

She cried, holding on to him. He let her cry, just happy to hold her again. After a few moments she was calmed down and reached into her pocket pulling out the ring box. "Here, this is yours."

Luke stared at it, and smiled a little. "I want you to have it Elizabeth. I want to marry you and be with you the rest of my life."

"Even if I'm damaged goods?" she asked.

"You're not damaged. You're wonderful and perfect. So, will you marry me?" he asked, taking the box and opening it for her.

She smiled at him, kissing him softly. "Yes, Luke Duke, I will marry you."

He slipped the ring on her finger and for the moment the two stayed joined in each other's arms. Looking up from Luke's shoulder she suggested, "Should we go tell your family?"

Luke glanced over at the farm and saw two heads watching them through the windows. "Something tells me we won't have to tell them. Just lift up your hand."

Her eyes followed his and she let out a small laugh as she saw the same sight. Together they held up her hand with the ring and soon cries of excitement reached their ears.

"Uncle Jesse, he did it! And she said yes!" Daisy yelled into the house.

"Come on Mrs. Duke, let me introduce you to your new family," Luke stated and lead a smiling Ellie Beth towards the farm.

_And that folks, just goes to show how much things change, even in Hazzard County. Ya'll come back now, you hear?_

**The End**

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! Well, this is the seconded ending, hope you all enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun and just want to thank everyone for sticking with me! You've been wonderful!_  
_


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